Glass,, "H^'^S 
Book .^JX- 



fN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 0. 

02? THE 

BEJVIINOLE WAR. 



HOUSE OF REPilESEirrATITES, 
February 1. ^ 
111 committee of the whole on the state of the Union 
Mr Bassett m the chair,) the following- resolution, re» 
ported by the committee on military affairs, toe-ether with 
the amendments proposed thereto, by Mr. Codd, beine* 
under consideration, viz. ^ 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives of the United 
Mates disappiwes the proceedings ia the trial and execution of 
Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Amhrister 

The amendments proposed by Mr. Cobb, ai-e as foI« 

low : 

Resolved, That the committee (mi military affairs be in- 
structed to prepare and report a bill to Uiis House, prohibitin^r, 
m tune of peace, or m t me of war with any Indian tribe or tribes 
iJnTt'.^ I. f ^^^^T ^""^ ^^V^iy^y taken by the army of the 
iPresKlent ^'^^^^^^ ^^^e approbation of such execution by the 

oofs^nf^'^f' J^t^ this House disapproves of the seizure of the 
^ntLl t f ^"'^ Pensacola, and the fortress of Barrancas , 
'^onti:aiy to orders, and in violation of the conrtitution. ' 



ESS 

Mesohoed, That the same committee be also mstructed to pre- 
pare anfl report a bill prohibiting tbe march of the army of the 
United States, or any corps thereof, into any foreign territory, 
without the previous authorization of Congi'ess, except it be in 
the case of fresh pm-suit'of a defeated enemy of the United 
States, taking refuge within such foreign territory. 
Mr. PoiNDEXTERaddressedthe chair as follows: 
I rise, Mr. chairman, under the influence of peculiar 
sensibility, to offer my sentiments on the subject before 
the committee. We are called upon to disrobe a veteran 
soyierof the well earned laurels which encircle his brow, 
to tarnish his fame by severe reproaches, and hand down 
his name to posterity, as the violater of the sacred instru« 
ment which constitutes the charter of ourhberties, and 
of the benevolent dictates of humanity, by which this na- 
tion has ever been ciiaracterized and disting-uished. Were 
the sacrifice of this hig-hly meritorious citizen the only 
evil with which the proposed resolutions are fraught, I 
should derive some consolation from the reflection, that 
there is a redeeming spirit in the intelligence and pa- 
triotism of the great body of the people,capable of shield- 
ing him against the deleterious consequences meditated 
by the propositions on your table. But there is another, 
and a more serious aspect, in which the adoption of these 
resolutions must be viewed; the direct and infallible ten- 
dency which they involve, of enfeebling the arm of this 
government, in our pending negotiation witli Spain ; of 
putting ourselves in the wrong, and the Spanish monarch 
in the right, on the interesting and deUcate points v/hich 
have so long agitated and endangered the peace of the 
two countries. I wish not to be understood as attribut- 
ing to honorable gentlem.en, who advocate the measure, 
such motives : they are, doubtless, actuated alone by a 
sense of duty. I speak of the effects which our pro- 
ceedings are calculated to produce, without intending to 
cast the slightest imputation on those who entertain dif- 
ferent opinions. Sir, do we not know with what dehght 
and satisfaction the minister of Spain looks on the ef- 
forts which are made on this floor to inculpate the Exe- 
cutive of the United States, for having committed against 
his27H?nac7//afemaster an act of hostility, in the entrance 
into Florida, and the temporary occupation of St. ISIarks 
and Pensacola ? With what avidity and pleasure he 
peruses the able and eloquent argum.ents delivered in 
the popular branch of the government, in support of the 
weighty allegations which he has already exhibited ot 
the hostile and unwarrantable conduct of the commander 
of our army, during the late campaign against the Semi- 
nole Indians ? And, sir, whatever may be the purity ot 
intenciop, which I shall not presume to question, on the 



part of gentlemen who censure the course pursued 
by the commanding- general, this debate will afford a 
valuable fund, on which Spain will not fail to draw, on 
all future occasions, to shew that the pacific relations 
which she has endeavored to maintain, have been violated, 
without an adequate cause, by the United States. Shall 
we put it in her power to make this declaration to the 
civilized world, and establish the fact by a reference to the 
journal of the House of Representatives ? I hope and be- 
lieve we shall not. Sir, the nature of our free institu- 
tions imperiously requires that, on all questions touching 
controversies with foreign pov/ers, every department 
of this government should act in concert, and present to 
the opposite party one undivided, impenetrable front. 
The observance of this rule accords w^ith every dictate 
of patriotism; and is the basis on which alone we can 
preserve a proper respect for our rights among the great 
family of nations. Internal divisions are often fatal to 
the liberties of the people ; they never fail to inflict a 
deep wound on the national character ; the lustre and 
purity of which, it is our primary duty to preserve unsul- 
lied, to the latest posterity. Can it be necessary to call 
to the recollection of the committee the peculiar and de- 
licate posture of our relations with Spain ? A protracted 
and difficult neg-otiation, on the subject of boundary and 
spoliations, is still progressing between the Secretary of 
State and their accredited minister, at this place; the re- 
sult is yet extremely doubtful ; it may, and T trust will, 
eventuate in a treaty satisfactory to the parties, on all the 
points in contest ; but, if Spain should Continue to reject 
the moderate and reasonable demands of this govern - 
ment, the indisputable rights of this nation must and will 
be asserted and vindicated by a solemn appeal to arms. 
I ask, if in such a crisis, it is either wise or prudent to 
pronounce, in the face of the world, that we have been 
the aggressors, and that war in its most offensive and ex- 
ceptionable sense has been already commenced by gen- 
eral Jackson, under the sanction of the President of the 
United States ? I hazard nothing in affirming that such 
a departure from the established usages of nations is 
without a parellel in the political history of any country, 
ancient or modern. Under whatever circumstances dan- 
ger may threaten us from abroad, it is from this House 
that the energies of the people are to be aroused and 
put in motion ; it is our province to sound the alarm, and 
give the impulse which stimulates every portion of the 
Union to a sim.ultaneous and manly exertion of its physi- 
cal strength, to avenge the insulted honor and violated 
interests of our country. We are the legitimate organ of 
^rabiic sentim^ent ; and it is incumbent on us to animate 



and cherish a spirit of resistance to foreign encroachittehts 
among our constituents, by urging- the justice of oui^ 
cause, and the necessity of their vigorous co-operation 
m support of the constituted authorities, who are respon- 
sible to them, for the faithful execution of the high and 
important duties vrith which they are entrusted. These 
are the means by which we shall perpetuate our repub- 
lican fprm of government, and transmit its blessings to 
future generations. But we are required on the present 
occasion to forget the wrongs of which we have so long 
and so justly complained ; to abandon, for a while, the 
lofty attitude of patriotism, and to tell the American peo- 
ple, in anticipation of a rupture with Spain, that it is a 
war of aggression on the part of their chief Executive 
Magistrate, commenced in Florida without proper au- 
thority ; that the Spanish government can consider it 
in no other light, than premeditated, offensive war 
made on them with a view of extending the territorial 
limits of the United States. The expression ot these 
opinions, by this body, must cast a shade over the Ame= 
rican name, which no lapse of time can obhterate ; and 
->rhile we nerve the arm of the enemy, we shall approach 
the contest with an open denunciation against the Presi» 
dent, who is charged with its prosecution to a speedy 
and favorable termination. He is denied the cheering 
consolation of Union, in the government over which he 
has been called to preside, at a period of national peril, 
when every man ought to be invited to rally around the 
standard of his country. Sir, how is this most novel and 
extraordinary aberration from the legislative functions ot 
the House attempted to be explained and justified f By 
o-loomy pictures of a violated constitution ; pathetic ap- 
peals to humanitv, i« favor of a barbarous and unrelent^ 
ingfoe; and lamentations over the blighted honor and 
mas-nanimity of the nation. I,too,am aconservator of the 
constitution ; I venerate that stupendous fabric of human 
wisdom;! love my country, and will endeavor to rescue 
it from the odious" imputations which have been so freely 
cast on it in the progress of this discussion. I admon- 
ish gentlemen, who manifest such ardent zeal to fortify 
the "powers of this House against military usurpations, 
that they do not suffer that zeal to precipitate them into 
an error equallv repugnant to a sound construction ot 
the constitution.' The report of the committee on military 
affairs, taken in connection with the amendments propos- 
ed bv the honorable member from Georgia, (Mr. Cobb) 
mav be classed under two general divisions. 1st Resolu- 
tions of censure, on the conduct of general Jackson, in 
riorida, for a yiolation of the orders of the President, anrt 



5 



of the constitution ; and for the unlawful execution of the 
incendiaries Arbuthnot and Ambrister. 2d. Instructions 
to the committee to prepare and report two several bills, 
the object of which, is to divest this nation of some of 
the most essential attributes of sovereig'nty. I shall pass 
over the latter branch of this subject without observa- 
tion; believing as I do, notwithstanding the high respect 
which I entertain for the mover, that it is not seriously 
the intention of honorable gentlemen, by an act of legis- 
lation, to abrogate the rights of this nation, founded on 
the universal law of nature, and of nations. Self-denial, 
though sometimes an amiable quality in an individual 
member of society, when applied to the whole communi- 
renders it obnoxious to insult and oppression, and is a 
voluntary degradation, below the rank of other sovereign- 
ties, to which no American ought ever to submit. Neutral 
rights, and the usages of war, are already well establish- 
ed, and understood by all civilized powers ; and it is not 
to be presumed that the interpolations which are pro- 
posed, would be reciprocated, and constitute the basis 
of new principles oi public law ; we may prostrate our 
own dignity, and parahze the energies of our country ; 
but we shall find no nation so pusillanimous as to follow 
our dismterested exdcmple. Considering, therefore, these 
propositions, as merely nominal, intended only to enlarge 
the group, and give diversity to the picture, I shall leave 
them without further animadversion, and proceed to in- 
vestigate the resolutions levelled at the fame, the honor, 
and reputation, of general Andrew Jackson ; and, through, 
him, at the President, under whose orders he acted, and. 
by whom he has been sustained and vindicated. Sir, J. 
hold it to be the indispensable duty of every tribunal, 
whether legislative or judicial, to examine, with cautioa 
and circumspection, into its jurisdiction and powers, or 
every question brought before it for adjudication ; and 
this rule ought more particularly to be observed in cases 
involving personal rights and interests, where the partjr 
to be affected by the decision is not permitted to answer 
in his own defence. I ask, then, sir, has the House of 
Representatives, as a distinct and separate branch of Con- 
gress, the constitutional power to institute an enquiry in- 
to the conduct of a military officer, and to sentence him 
to be cashiered, suspended, or censured ? I demand a 
satisfactory and explicit response to this interrogatory, 
founded on a reference to the constitution itself, and not 
on the undefined notions of expediency, which gentle- 
men may indulge ; and if it be not given, as I am very- 
sure it cannot, 7ye shall becoine the violaters of that fair 
fabric of liberty, and erect a precedent more dapgerovs 



6 



ill its tendency, than the multiplied infractions which 
have been so vehementl}^ alleged against g-eneral' Jack- 
son; admitting" tbem all the force and latitude, which the 
most enthusiastic censor could desire. Sir, it is high time 
to bring back this debate to first principles, and to test 
our jurisdiction over this case, by a recurrence to the 
structure of the government of v/hich we are a compo- 
nent part. Let us pluck the beam from our own eyes, 
before we seek to expel the mote which gentlemen 
seem to haye discovered in the vision of generalJack- 
son. The sages and patriots who established the foun- 
dation of this republic have, with a wisdom and forecast 
bordering on inspiration, carefully marked and distribut- 
ed the powers delegated in the constitution to the fed^^ 
ral government among the several departments, legisla- 
tive, executive, and judiciary. No principle is better set- 
tled, or more generally conceded, than that the powers 
properly belonging to one of these departments, ought 
jiot to be directly administered by either of the others-. 
The violation of this maxim leads, by inevitable results, 
to the downfall of our republican institutions, and the 
consohdation of all power in that branch which shall 
possess the strongest influence over the pubhc mind. 
Upon the independent exercise of the powers confided 
to each department, uncontrolled, directly or indirectly, 
by the encroachments of either, depends the security of 
life, liberty, and property ; and the stabihty of that con- 
stitution which is the pride of our country and the ad- 
miration of mankind. The honorable gentleman from 
Georgia has adverted to the opinions of the immortal 
author of the letters of Publius, the late chief magistrate 
of the United States; and the honorable speaker has al- 
so invited our attention to that great constitutional law- 
yer; They triumphantly ask, wiiat would say on the 
'present question, were he a member of this House ? I 
will not follow the example of these gentlemen, by sub- 
stituting declamation for historical truth, or vague sur» 
mises, and assumed premises, for record evidence ; but, 
while I accord to the distinguished statesman and patriot, 
whose exertions so eminently contributed to the estab- 
lishment of this government, and whose exposition of its 
fundamental principles cannot be too highly appreciat- 
ed, all the merit of a useful hfe,devoted to the pubhc ser- 
vice, guided by wisdom, virtue, and integrity; I appeal, 
•with pleasure and confidence, to his able pen, in sup- 
port of the position which I have advanced, and which 
I deem an important point in the case under considera- 
tioc. In the view takeji by ^Ir. MadisonjOf the ' meaning of 



7 



tlie maxim which requires a separation of the depaiH.- 
ments of power,' lie repels the arguments of the^ op- 
ponents to the adoption of the constitution, founded on 
the apprehension of Executive supremacy, over the legis- 
lative and judiciary, which, it was contended, would ul- 
timately render that branch the sole depository of pow- 
er; and subject the people of this country to the despotic 
will of a sing-ie individual. Comparing the powers dele- 
gated to the Executive, with those granted to the legis- 
lative, and the probable danger of an assumption by 
either of the functions appertaining to the other, he says^ 
<In a government where numerous and extensive pre= 
^rogatives are placed in the hands of a hereditary monarch, 
*the Executive department is very justly regarded as the 
< source of danger, and watched with all the jealousy 
' which a zeal for hberty ought to inspire. In a democra- 

* cy, where a multitude of people exercise in person the 
« legislative functions, and are continually exposed, by 
' their mcapacity for regular dehberation and concerted 
^measures, to the ambitious intrigues of their Executive 

* magistrates, tyranny may well be apprehended, on some 

* favorable emergency, to start up in the same' quarter, 

* But, in a representative republic, where the Executive 
« magistracy is carefully limited, both in the evtent ?nd 

* duration ofits power, and where the legislative pow^r 
*is exercised by an assembly, which is inspired by a sup- 
♦posed influence over the people, with an intrepid con- 
^ hdence m its own strength, which is sufficiently nu- 
*meroustofeei all the passions which actuate a multitude, 
I yet not so numerous as to be incapable of pm^suing the 
•objects of Its passions, by means which reason pre- 
« scribes ; it is against the enterprizing ambition of tViis de- 
apartment that the people ought to indulge all their jea^ 
*- lousy, and exhaust all their precautions. 

* The legislative department derive's a superiority in 
^our government from other circumstances. Its con- 
-stKutio«al powers being at once more extensive, and 

* less susceptible of precise limits, it can, with the l ; cat- 
er lacihty, mask, under complicated and indirect 
measures, the encroachmen s which it makes on the co- 

\ ordinate aepartments.' Tne correctness of the reaeor- 
mg and predictions of this great and good man, wlio is 
called by the honorable speaker the fatlier of the con 
stitution, has been often demonstrated in the pr-irti^al 
operations of this body, and never m.ore forciKan 
on the present occasion. Scarcely a ses^'on ol' Cop- S 
passes without some effort to enlarge the scope of ^^r 
F.J.r'' / ^^^"^^^^yctio.^^ or analogy ; and unless these svs 
tematic advances m th:s House, to crush the co-ordLat^ 



8 



d-eparti-nents.by an unlimited exercise of authxcrity over 
allsubiects involving the general welfare,be resisted, yith 
firmness and perseverance, they will, at no distant period, 
eventuate in the destruction of those salutary checks 
and balances, so essential to the duration of our happy 
form of government, and to the security of civil and po- 
litical liberty. I deprecate every measure calculated to 
establibha precedent, which, in its effects, may lead to 
such dangerous consequences. An enlightened states- 
man has said that the concentrating all the powers of go- 
vernment in the legislative body, is of the very essence 
^f despotism ; and it is no alleviation, that these powers 
will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a 
sino-leone. * An elective despotism wsls not the govern- 
« nfent we fought for ; but one which should not only be 
«foundedonfreeprinciples,but in which the powers of 
< government shouldbe so divided andbalanced amongthe 
^ several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could trans- 
« cend their legal Hmits, without being effectually check- 
« ed and restrained by the others.' 

Sir, whenever these principles shall cease to be_ re- 
spected by the councils of this country, I shall consider 
the grand experiment which we have m.ade in the admin- 
istration of a government of hmited powers, founded on 
a wntten instrument, in v/hich they are specified and de- 
fined, as altogether abortive, and as affordmg strong 
proof of the regal maxim— that man is incapable ot self- 
e-overnraent. If honorable gentlemen mean any thing 
bv the reverence which they profess to feel for the con- 
stitution, I conjure them to* look to its provisions, and 
forbear to adopt a measure in direct violation both of its 
letter and spirit. By article 2d. section 2. it is provided 
that « The President shall be commander in chief oi 
the army and navv of the United States, and of the mili- 
tia of the several states, when called into actual service;- ' 
and by the 8th section of the Ist article. Congress is vest- 
ed with power to " make rules for the goveimment, and 
--g-ulation of the land and naval forces." Congress has 
long since fultilled this duty : rules and articles of war 
have been sanctioned, and have continued to govern the 
army, from its organization, up to the present time ; m 
these, the great pnnciples of subordination and responsi- 
bility are graduated and established, from the commander 
in chief, down to the most petty officer and common sol- 
dier The President is placed by his country at the 
head of its physical force, « to execute the laws of the 
Union, suppress insurrection, and repel invasion ; he is 
the ultimate tribunal to decide all questions touching 
the operations of the army, and the conduct of the offi- 



9 



c^ts who compose it. If there be any power, dearlr 
and exckisively belonging to the Executive, it is that 
which appertains to the government of the army and navy 
of the United States* Our whole system of laws recog- 
nize it; and until this extraordinary attempt to erect the 
House of Representatives into a court martial, with a 
view to cast an indelible stain on the character of gen- 
eral Jackson, without a fair and impartial trial, in which 
he might confront his accusers, and be heard in his de- 
fence, no instance can be shewn, since the foundation of 
the government, where the President has been interrupt- 
ed in the full exercise of his legitimate authority over 
the military officers under his command. The abuse of 
this power, or the improper direction and application of 
the public force, by the chief magistrate, or by any su- 
bordinate officer, with his privity and assent, in a manner, 
or for the accomplishment of objects dangerous to the 
liberties of the people, or subversive of the laws and con- 
stitution of the Union, will find a ready and suitable cor- 
rective in this House, by an application of its power to 
originate impeachment against the President, Vice Pre- 
sident, and all civil officers, for treason, bribery, or othe? 
high crimes and misdemeanors. In this sense only caa 
we be regarded as the grand inquest of the nation, and 
not to the unUmited extent for which gentlemen have con- 
tended. The power to impeach the President is ex- 
pressly delegated ; all other civil officers are liable to the- 
same scrutiny, and the total omission, in the article of 
the military department, is, to my mind, conclusive evi- 
dence that they were never intended to be subject to 
the control of Congress, except in the usual course of 
legislation, under the powder to raise and support armies. 
And this opinion is strengthened by the clause of the 
constitution to which I have referred, directing Congress 
to provide for the government and regidation of the land 
and naval forces. I he principle of official responsibility 
is to be found in every page of the constitution ; not 
a vague, uncertain responsibility, but that v/hich is une- 
quivocal, certain, and definite. We are answerable, at 
stated periods, to the people by whom we have respect-- 
ively been chosen. The President is accountable to the 
nation at large, at the expiration of his term of service; 
and, in the mean time, we hold a salutary check over his 
ambition, if he evince such a disposition, by means of 
impeachment. In like manner, the whole civil depart- 
ment may be punislied for a wanton prostitution of i lieir 
official functions. The military and naval offic- t s v.ho 
command our army and navy are responsible directly to 
the Executive, who is their chief, and, through liim, in^ 



10 



directly, to the representatives of the people. Every 
link in the chain is essential to the beaucy and symmetry 
of the whole ; and, if preserved unbroken, affords the 
most ample security against an usurpation of power, 
without a prompt and efficient remedy to detect and re- 
strain it. It is now proposed to make this House, the 
focus of every power g'ranted to the federal government, 
to mount the ramparts which separate the departments, 
and compel every "m.an who holds a commission to bow 
w-ith submission to the gigantic strength of this numer- 
ous assembly. Those whom we cannot impeach, we will ^ 
rensiLve, and record their names as fit objects for the 
scorn and detestation of posterity. Already we hold the 
purse and the sword of the nation. All legislation miust 
receive our concurrence, in connexion with the Presi= 
dent and Senate, before it has the force and effect of law. 
The treaty-making power maybe controlled by us, where 
&.n appropriation is required to fulfil the contract — the^ 
Judiciary is at our feet," both in respect to the extent of 
'its jurisdiction and tlie liability of its members to the 
summary process of impeachment— the President and 
heads of de])artment, foreign ministers, and the whole 
catalogue of civil officers, stand in awe of our frowns, 
and may be crushed by the weight of our authority. I 
ask, then, sir, if the officers of the army and navy are 
rendered subservient to us, as a censorial, inquisitorial 
bodv, vv^hether it will not amount to the " very definition 
of despotism.'' Yes, sir, we shall, if these resolutions 
passj bear testimony of the soundness of the pohticai axiomi, 
that it is "against this department that the people ought 
to indulge all their jealousy, and exhaust all their pre- 
cautions." But the constitution, in this respect, has re- 
ceived a construction almost cotemporaneously with its 
adoption. As early as the year 1792, a resolution was 
submitted, by a distinguished member from Virginia, in 
the House of Representatives, requesting the President 
to institute an enquiry into the causes of the defeat of the 
army under the command of Maj. Gen St. Clair. The 
■ao-itation produced by that momentous disaster seemed 
to den :and an investigation of the conduct of the com- 
manding general. A great pubhc calamity is always cal- 
culated to awaken feehngs which, for a moment, usurp 
the empire of reason, and lead to excesses which sober 
reflection would condemn. It was not, therefore, won- 
derful, that a man of the soundest intellect, and most en- 
lightened understanding, should have felt it his duty to 
call the attention of the President to a subject so deeply 
interesting to the country, and to request an enquiry into 
uie causes of that signal and unfortunate defeat. The 



11 



proposition was fully discussed, and finally rejected by a 
larg-e majority, on the ground that it was an unwarranta- 
ble interference with the constitutional functions of the 
chief mag-istrate. The substance of the debate may be 
found in the newspapers of that day; and among* those 
who objected to the measure are the names of Madison, 
Ames, Baldwin, and many others who participated in the 
formation of the constitution, and who were, consequent- 
ly, better qualified to g-ive to it a sound interpretation. A 
committee was subsequently appointed to enquire into 
the expenditure of the public money in that campaign, and 
other subjects of a general nature', connected with the 
legislative duties of Congress. Again; in the year 1810, a 
committee V¥as raised to enquire into the conduct of 
Gen. James Wilkinson, in relation to a variety of charges 
which had been publicly made against him: they were 
authorized to send for persons and papers. The general 
was notified of their sittings, allowed to attend in'person 
before them, to cross-examine the witnesses, to confront 
his accusers, to exhibit evidence in his defence, and 
make such explanations as he might think necessary to a 
vindication of his conduct. The committee, after a very 
laborious investigation, simply reported the facts to the 
House, who resolved, that the same be transmitted to 
the President of the United States. No opinion was ex- 
pressed or intimated, as to the guilt or innocence of the 
general; no request was made of the President to insti- 
tute a court martial, but he was left to the exercise of 
his own discretion, unbiassed by th@ slightest indication 
of the impression which the developement had made on 
the House of Representatives. The result, we all know, 
was, that a general court martial w^as immediately con- 
vened, and Gen. Wilkinson was honorably acquitted: 
both prmcipk and precedent, therefore, combine in re- 
commendmg a rejection of these resolutions, which claim 
for this House a power, not merely to request another 
department to perform a particular duty, but assume 
the right to adjudicate the case, and sentence an officer 
to irretrievable infamy, without a hearing, and without 
appeal, save only to his God and the purity of his own 
conscience. Permit m.e, sir, to present to the view of 
the committee some of the unavoidable consequences 
which will fiov/ from this premature and unauthorized 
proceeding. We announce to the President, and to the 
nation, that Gen. Jackson, in tlie prosecution of the Se- 
minole. war, has violated his orders and broken the con- 
stitution of his country, and that, in the trials and execu- 
tion of A^^buthnot and Ambrister, he has been guilty of 
, the horrid criine of official murder. We. on the part ct 



IS 



ment of the army of the ^™ =\*^^'t^nment of justice,^ 

being the one t^^^Tt^be ™ed ST details! court 

would, in ^Up-°b/b'^WXS&^^ charge* 
martial, composed of high-min^^^^^^ y 
and specifications are exhibited an ^ 

the fi'-^^^'"^';i,^^TmAi tri", and, at the very thresh- 
notg-uilty. Heisputoii ^ already been found 

hold, li^ 'li"f?T'i\lunariiftheUmon-the Repre- 
guilty/oythe lughe^t tnW nevertheless 

sentatives of*\f^,^^ftnd is ultimately convicted, and 
proceeds in his detence , A ^ conviction 

cashiered. Would not toory recora ^^^^^^ 

as the result of our P^fJ^^A'^f tl^e dovvnf^^ of this man 
not the whole world a""bute tne " _ injustice of 
to the monstrous Pf jf"^ J'J ^oblv d^^^^^ 
that ungrateful '^^-^^'^S.^^^Tslolld be regai-ded 
yes, sir, to the latest PO^"^"^',' .gg of condemnation, 
as having passed «?^^'^o„na to register, to secm-e 
which the court martial vv ere Dom^^ ^ 

themselves from ^"^"j^So'lS ^^'^"^ 
pose that, unawed by the ^^P^^^'^^i^i acquit the ge- 
shall l«ve pronounced, the coiu r^^ ^^^.^1^ 
neral of the several charges and sp ^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^^^ 
he has been arrested ]^ ^ ^^^v : we, acting un- 

„f the country «"''^^i?|7of our oalhs, declare, .that 
der the sclenin o^^^S^^^ ° high crimes and misde- 
Gen. Jackson ^=^^Se^o teJ?from him his epaulettes 

meanors; ^''•^.''\\''''^^tZTom- opinions are scouted, 
-and, when tried by h,s peers oui ^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^.^ 

and he is m''""t^'"^i{"J^ if such a controversv, tlie 
^ould have degraded him. ^n^ ^.^^^^^ ^^^^ 

only arbiter is . 't reason to shun the conse- 

of t^. proposed 

-tfXi inability to e^.c. the ..11 of the m^^^^^^^ 

demonstrates V^f^^or whatever any branch of the go^ 
--xpress that will; tor, \)nate>c ^^ means nee f 

^evnment can.constiUit^naU dec de th 

to carry '^^decis on mto exe ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^ 
at^h^e ^v^^^^^ of honorable 



IS 



men who, to avoid the perplexing* difficulties by which 
they are enveloped, gravely affirm, that neither the re» 
port of the military committee, nor the resolutions re- 
specting the seizure of the posts of St. Marks and Pen- 
sacola, and fortress of Barancas, contain a censure of Gen„ 
Jackson; that they are harmless, inoffensive expressions 
of opinion, upon the passing* events relating to the state 
of the Union. I put it to those gentlemen — for the ar- 
gument has been resorted to by all who have spoken— 
whether, if I were to address either of them in conversa- 
tion, and say, in the language of the propositions before 
the committee, " Sir, you have violated the constitution 
of the United States, and, of course, you are perjured^ 
««You have sentenced to death, and executed, two of 
*' your fellow-men, without a fair trial, and contrary to 
" all law, human and divine ; consequently, your hands are 
" stained with their blood,^* would they calmly reply, that 
-my expressions conveyed no censure on them, and were 
aot repug'nant to their feelings or 'character, nor incon- 
sistent with contemporaneous assurances of my high re- 
spect and consideration ? Common sense revolts at con- 
clusions so ridiculous, drawn from such premises. Add 
to this the express charge of a violation of orders, which 
the President, it seems, is not competent to determine 
for himself, and I may venture to defy any gentleman to 
cover a miUtary officer with more, odious epithets, or 
more vindictive censure. No man, however elevated his 
station, can withstand the overwhelming force of such 
an assault on his reputation, coming from this august 
body, after mature and solemn dehberation. The exalt- 
ed mind of Gen. Jackson would prefer even death to 
this fatal blow, aimed at that which is more dear to him 
than life-— his well-earned fame and irreproachable honor. 
Sir, the immortal Washington was charged with a viola- 
tion of the constitution, in drawing money from the trea- 
sury to pay the militia who served in the campaign against 
the insurgents in 1794, without an appropriation made 
by law ; but at that day the secret of our power to censure 
had not been discovered, and the transaction passed with-^ 
out animadversion. It has remained for us to put in mo- 
tion this new engine of inquisitorial crimination, and to 
wield it against a man whose arm was never extended 
hut in defending the liberty and safety of his country a- 
gainst the complicated enemies by whom it has been as- 
assailed, and whose pure and unblemished patriotism, 
combined with his invincible valor, fortitude, and perse- 
verance, have shed over his brow a resplendent ray of 
glory which neither clouds or tempests can obscure, so 
long as virtue shall predominate over the envious and 



14 



malignant passions of the human heart. Yes, sir ! we ate 
importuned to execrate the bloody deeds of the Semi- 
nole warj to chaunt requiems over the tombs of Arbuthnot 
and Ambrister, and to mourn over the wreck of our 
fallen constitution — and, in an instant, as if by enchant- 
paent, the horrid picture vanishes from our affrighted 
imaginations, and eludes even the grasp of keen-eyed 
malice ; and we hear the moral integrity and innocence 
of all these transactions announced from the same lips 
which utter their condemnation. The motives and in- 
tentions of Gen. Jackson are eulogized and applauded by 
his most inveterate accusers. All the errors ascribed to 
him, and for which honorable gentlemen are prepared 
to immolate his character, and render his name, hitherto 
so dear to his countrymen, odious and detestable, are at- 
tributed to the impetuous ardor of his zeal to promote 
the general good, and give peace and security to our de- 
fenceless frontier. 

He fills a space in the public eye, and commands a 
portion of the affection and confidence of his fellow ci- 
tizens, too copious and extensive to be tolerated by 
the sharp-sighted politician, whose splendid eloquence 
fades and evaporates before the sunshine of renown,hght- 
ed up by the unparallelled achievements of the conquer- 
or of the veterans of Wellington. These modern casu- 
ists endeavor to magnify an unintentional violation of 
the constitution into a crime of the blackest enormity, 
which can neither be extenuated or forgiven. Are they 
willing to make this system of political ethics applicable 
to themselves, and to have their names specified on the 
journal as culprits at the bar of an offended people, 
stamped with infamy and disgrace, if at any time they 
have, with the best intentions, given a vote, which, on a 
review of the subject, wa.s found to conflict with some 
provision of the constitution? What m.ember of this 
house can say, with certainty, that he has, on all occasions, 
construed the constitution correctly ? And who among" 
us would be satisfied to stake all his hopes and prospects 
on the issue of an investigation, whicli, disregarding all 
respect for the purity of the motive, should seek only to 
discover an inadvertent error, resulting from a defect of 
judgment in the attainment of objects identified with 
the best interests of the nation ? Sir, if I mistake not, 
the honorable Speaker, and several other gentlemen, 
who have manifested great solicitude, and displa} ed a 
torrent of eloquence to urge the expediency of passing 
the proposed censure on the conduct of Gen. Jackson, 
and who unhesitatingly admit the innocence of his inten- 
tions, would be placed in an unpleasant situation, by the 



15 



operation of the rule whicli they are anxious to prescribe 
in this case. A few short years past, these honorable 
g-entlemen were the champions who resisted the renewal 
of the charter of the old bank of the United States. At 
that day they held the original act of incorporation to 
be a usurpation of power, not delegated to Congress by 
the constitution, and to their exertions we were indebted 
for the downfal of that institution. The same distinguish- 
ed members, at a subsequent period, acting under the 
high obhgations of duty, and the solemnity of their oaths 
to support the constitution of the United States, aided 
and assisted in establishing the mammoth bank, which now 
threatens to sweep with the besom of destruction every 
other moneyed institution in the np.tion into the gulph of 
ruin and bankruptcy. It will not be pretended that both 
these opposite opinions were correct ; and yet I should 
be very sorry either to impugn the motives which actu- 
ated those gentlemen in the instances referred to, or to 
pass a censure on their conduct for an unintentional vio- 
lation of the constitution, calculated to withdraw from 
them the confidence of their constituents. There was a 
time, Mr. Chairman, when the republican phalanx in eve- 
ly quarter of the Union regarded the specification of 
powers in the constitution as the limitation of the grant, 
within which every department ought to be strictly con- 
lined. But at this day we are told, that this literal con- 
struction of the instrument is too narrow for the expand- 
ed views of an American statesman — mere "water-gru@V* 
insipid to the palate, and requiring the addition of a lit-' 
tie fuel to give it energy and action to conduct this na- 
tion to the high destinies which await it. No power can 
be called for by an existing exigency, or a favorite sys- 
tem of policy, which, according to the doctrines now ad- 
vanced, may not be found necessary and proper to carry 
into effect some one of the specified powers in the con- 
stitution. The flexible character of man, and the frailty 
df human nature, offered an ample apology for these os- 
cillations, and wretched indeed would be our situation if 
crime consisted in error, unaccompanied by the pre-ex- 
isting will to perpetrate it. No man who respects his 
feelings or his character would accept a public trust on 
such conditions. As well might we censw^the Supreme 
Court for having given a decision which we deemed 
contrary to the 'constitution, and where no corruption 
could be alleged against the Judges who pronounced it ; 
which is an essential ingredient to constitute an offence 
for which a judicial officer is hable to impeachment. In 
such a case our censure might be retorted by an attach- 
ment for contempt, and the honorable Speaker, repre>" 



16 



sealing the majesty of this house, woiiid be compelled 
answer the charge by purgation, or otherwise, as the 
wisdom of the house should direct. I mention tliis to show 
the absurdity and inefficiency of every attempt to tran- 
scend the powders secured to us by the constitution. Sir, 
I am sick to loathing* of this incongruous, novel, and im- 
potent effort to wound the sensibility of a hero, who has 
sacrificed whatever of heath or fortune he possessed, and 
staked his life in common with the soldier by whose 
side he fought, that our exposed and unprotected frontier 
might once more repose in peace and tranquility, undis- 
turbed by the midnight yell of tlie merciless savage. 

The hero of New Orleans wanted not a petty Indian 
war to satiate his ambition, or add fresh laui-els to the 
wreath abeady bequeathed to him by his country. It 
was a war of hardships, fatigues and privations, in whick 
for himself he had nothing to hope but the consolation 
of having accomplished the object for which he took the 
field, and of receiving the approbation of the President, 
to whom alone he was responsible for all the incidents of 
the campaign in which be participated. Of this reward^ 
so well merited, and so freely bestowed, vre now seek to 
rob him, by fulminating resolutions and vindictive elo- 
quence, against what honorable gentlemen are pleased 
to call 2i patriotic unintentional violation of the constitutione 

The committee then rose, reported progress, 
and asked leave to sit again ; and the House ad- 
journed. On the following day, 

Mr. PoixDEXTER resumed his argument 

^Ir. Chabman, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that 
the view which I had the honor to take of tiiis subject on 
yesterday, was not intended to shield the conduct of Gen. 
Jackson from the strictest scrutmy. Even before this 
unconstitutional court, unheard and undefended, he fears 
not the penetrating touch of the most rigid investigation. 
He asks no palUatives, no exemption fromjresponsibility. 
He needs only that protection which justice, sternly ad- 
ministered, affords to every virtuous man in the commu- 
nity. The argument was directed to the judgment of the 
house, in reference to its ©wn legitimate powers, as a se- 
parate branch of the National Legislature. These consist 
of the right to judge of the elections and returns of our 
own members ; to determine the rules of our own pro- 
ceedings ; to punish members for disorderly behavior ; 
and, with the concurrence of two tliirds, to expel a mem- 
ber ; and they are all the ultimate powers of the House 
of Representatives. Allow me, sir, in closing my re- 
marks on this point, tocaU the attention of the committee 



17 



t j an opinion which fell from the venerable George Clin» 
t3n a short time before he took a final leave of this 
v;orld, und was deposited among the tombs of the fallen 
heroes and patriots, who, with him, had achieved the m- 
dependence of their country. Placed in the chair of the 
Senate of the United States, be was required, by an e- 
qual division of that body, to give a casting vote on the 
question touching the power of Congress to incorporate 
a National Bank, It will be recollected that he negativ- 
ed that propositi on, and in support of his vote advanced 
the reasoning by which he was influenced, which he con- 
cluded with the folio wing judicious and pertinent admo- 
nition : " In the course of a long life, I have found that 
government is not to be strengthened by an assumptio;i 
of doubtful powers, but by a wise and energetic execu- 
tion of those which are incontestible ; the former never 
fails to produce suspicion and distrust, whilst the latter 
inspires respect and confidence." The sentiment is^ 
worthy of the head and the heart which dictated it, and it 
properly improved will constitute a rich legacy from that 
inflexible patriot to those who may follow in the path oi 
legislation. I earnestly recommend it to the favorable 
consideration of this body. 

Mr. Poindexter continued. I now, sir, said he, proceed^ 
to the topics already discussed with such distinguished 
ability. Perhaps 1 shall be guilty of a useless trespass on 
the patience of the committee in attempting to give them 
a further examination. The causes and origin of the- 
Seminole war, its prosecution and final termination, have 
resounded in our ears until every feeling is paralized, 
and all the avenues to conviction are closed, by the frost 
of cold indifference, or the fatal spell of unconquerable 
prejudice. Under such discouraging circumstances, I 
enter with diffidence on the task of exploring the ground 
over which so many have trodden before me. Urged onj, 
however, by a sense of duty and of the important results 
which may flow from the decision to be pronounced ou 
these interesting subjects, I claim the indulgence of the 
committee while I submit my opinions in relation to the 
principles ajid facts involved in them. The causes of this 
war stand first in the order- of the discussion : upon a 
clear understanding of these materially depend the jus- 
tification of the conduct observed in the prosecution oi 
the war. Many of the rights which appertain to a belU- 
gerent in a defensive, cannot be claimed in an off'ensive, 
war, and this is more particularly the case in respect to 
that which is now the subject of consideration. The. 
honorable Speaker, aware of the necessity of affixing tlie 
<'*uilt of the contest on the United States to sustain his 



18 



eenclusioiis, has labored to excite our commiseration for 
the poor, deg^raded, half-starved, persecuted Seminoles, 
while he charges the people of Georgia with robberies 
and murders on their innocent, unoffending neighbors ; 
who, in their own defence, were compelled to take up 
arms and retaliate the injustice which had been practised 
against them. To these outrages, and the acquisition of 
Indian lands by the treaty of Fort Jackson, combined 
with the dictatorial terms of that treaty, I understood 
the honorable gentleman to attribute the war which has 
produced so much excitement in this Rouse. Sir, I ap- 
prehend no gentleman on this floor is better acquainted 
with the origin of this war than the honorable member 
from Georgia who opened this debate ; and if he is will- 
ing to admit the charge of robbery and murder made on 
his constituents — ^be it so. For one, I can only say, that 
no satisfactory evidence has been adduced of the fact, 
and I am therefore bound to controvert it. 

The Speaker explained : He meant only to express his 
fears that such was the fact, without intending to use the 
strong language which Mr. P. had ascribed to him. 

Mr, P. proceeded : Sir, I have the speech of the ho- 
norable gentleman before me ; it contains, not only the 
substance of this charge on the people of Georgia, but 
it refers, in extenso, to a paper signed by the chiefs of 
ten towns, addressed to the commanding of&cer at Fort 
Hawkins, specifying their grievances and the wrongs 
committed on them by the Georgians, for which they de- 
manded an atonement. This paper the honorable gen- 
tlemen has characterized as an artless tale, told in lan- 
guage pathetic and feeling, which carried internal evi- 
dence^ of^ at least, the belief of the authors of it that they 
were writing the truth. It complains, that the ** white 
people carried off all the red people's cattle, and still 
continued to do so; that the whites Jirst begun; that, 
three years since, the whites killed three Indians, and, 
since that, three others ; that the whites stole their horses, 
and all they had, and killed three more Indians; to which 
they have since added six more.'* Satisfaction is said to 
have been taken for all except three of the Indians al- 
leged to have been murdered by the whites. From this 
summary of the paper referred to in support of the argu- 
ment of the honorable Speaker, and the weight which 
he has attached to it, I think it must be manifest that I 
tiave not misconceived or misstated his premises. And I 
repeat that it is not for me to interfere between the honor- 
able gentleman from Georgia, whose constituents have 
been thus implicated, and his honorable friend, who im- 
putes to tUeiii such di^racefuJ conduct, But, sir, I can- 



19 



not forbear to notice this « artless tale of truth,'^ which 
is the sole evidence of the outrages complained of, and 
on which so hig-h an eulogium has been pronounced. — 
Whence came this manifesto ? Sir, it emanated from the^ 
pen of that infamous foreigner, Arbuthnot ; it is one of 
the multitude of crimes which he expiated on the gal- 
lows, and is second only in impudence and falsehood to 
the famous proclamation of his predecessor, Col. Nichols. 
Its style is artful and insinuating ; its import pregnant 
with all the horrid deeds excited and consummated by 
the mischief-meditating hand of that monster whose fate 
is so deeply deplored within these walls. And is the tes- 
timony of this m.an, the avowed enemy of the United 
States; the instigator of Indian hostihties, by means of in- 
trigue and seduction ; whose occupation was misrepre- 
sentation and deception, to draw the unlettered savage 
into the vortex of impending ruin; whose mind was the 
dark abode of vice, in all its hideous deformity, worthy 
of the panegyric which it has received, and of the con- 
fidence reposed in it by the honorable Speaker? Shall 
we dishonor the American name upon his authority, 
masked by the nominal signatures of Ten Towns, the 
dupes of his insidious policy, who knew no more of this 
" pathetic and feeling narrative — this simple tale o<' 
truth," than he thoup^ht proper to communicate to themr 
No, sir, 1 trust we shall not. We must look to other and 
more respectable sources, for the concatenation of events 
which resulted in the Seminole war: to these I shall 
presently call the attention of the committee. But the 
treaty oif Fort Jackson falls under the severe denuncia- 
tion of the honorable Speaker, and the war is said to 
have had its origin in the imperious, haughty, and dicta- 
torial spirit of that instrument. Let us advert, for a mo- 
ment, to the history of this transaction, and bottom our 
reasoning on facts, and ^^e shall be less liable to the er- 
rors inseparable from a superficial view of any subject. 
The Creek Indians, towards whom the United States had, 
for more than twenty years, observed the most pacific 
policy, stimulating them to industry and agriculture.. ,>ur- 
suits, and inculcating on their minds the benefits of ci- 
vilization, seized on the first favorable opportunity which 
offered, when we were contending for our existence , as 
a sovereign and independent nation, against the undivid- 
ed streiigth of Great Britain, to take up arms against us 
and make a common cause with the enemy; actuated 
to this measure, no doubt, by British and Spanish coun- 
sellors, and supplied, as we know, with the means of 
carrying on the war at Pensacola. While they were in 
our power, weak and unprotected, we cherished awl 



20' 

fed tkem ; we Intrcduced among- them iiiiplements cf 
husbandry, taug-ht them to cultivate the soil, and the 
v.se of the wheel and the loom. We respected their ter- 
ritory, and prohibited all intrusions upon it. When they 
found us hard pressed, by the most powerful nation in 
Europe, we asked not their assistance, but advised them 
to stay at home and remain in peace ; we told them not 
to nght on either side. But the demon of foreign seduc- 
tion came among them ; false hopes were infused into 
their minds; promises of British aid were made to them; 
tlie prophetic delusion of invincibility nerved tlie warri- 
or's arm, and the tomahav, k and scalping knife were raised^ 
against their benefactors; wielded with all the fury of 
savage barbarity, rendered still more ferocious by the 
influence of superstition and fanaticism. Such was their 
ingratitude, and such the return for our magnanimity! 
The bloody contest ensued. The massacre at Duck Ri- 
ver, at Fort Mims, and the butchery of our frontier in- 
habitants, without regard to age, sex, or condition, will 
long be remembered by the afflicted friends and rela- 
tives who survive the unfortunate victims, whose inno- 
cent blood stained the guilty hand of the inexorable sa-< 
vage. The melancholy story of their wrongs will bej 
handed down to the latest generations. I hope they will 
not be forgotten by their country. At this momentous 
crisis, Jackson sprung from the retirement in which his 
vigorous mind had been permitted to slumber, and con- 
template, not without emotions of painful regret, the 
disasters which marked the progress of our armies. He 
took the field, at the head of the hardy and intrepid sons^ 
of Tennessee— his faithful companions in arms. They 
penetrated the swamps and the forests, enduring, with 
manly fortitude, every hardship and privation which the 
most vivid imagination can conceive, or human language 
portray. The God of t^attles was on their side ; victorv 
attended their steps ; — they conquered. The vanquished 
enemy dispersed: a part cf them fled into Florda, to 
thraw themselves under British protection, and the re-- 
sidue surrendered to the mercy of the conquering ge* 
neral. And the articles of capittilation, signed on the 9tlt 
of August, 1814, has been called a treaty ; a chef d'oeuvre 
in diplomacy, cruel and insulting in its terms, to a miser- 
able, fallen foe ; derogatory to the national cliaracter, and 
the main cause of the recent war with the SeminoleSi 
I have yet to leariv that the subjugation of one tribe of 
Indians, and the terms of their submission, is justifiable 
cause of war, on the part of another, and a distinct tribe* 
But, independent of this objection to the ground assum- 
ed by tiie honorable Speaker, I contend there is nothing 



21 



m these articles of capitulation either unreasonable or 
"incompatible with the sound morality which, it seems, so 
eminently distinguished the commissioners at Ghent. Let 
•it be remembered, that a conquering general, in the 
field, asks nothing of the enemy as a matter of courtesy. 
His business is to demand justice, and enforce a comph- 
ance at the point of the bayonet. And what are the con- 
ditions on which Gen. Jackson agreed to receive the sub- 
mission of an enemy who had made on the United States 
an unprovoked war, in aid of a contemplated blow to be 
struck by Great Britain, on the great emponum of our 
Western commerce ? He demands « an equivalent for all 
expenses incurred in prosecuting the war to its final ter- 
mination ; that the Creek nation abandon all intercourse 
Y/ith the British and Spanish posts, those infernal friends 
who had excited them to war ; that they acknowledge 
the right of the United States to establish military posts 
and trading houses, and open roads, within their terri- 
tory, and to the free navigation of their waters ; that they 
surrender the property taken from citizens of the United 
States and friendly Indians, in return for which, the pro- 
perty of those who submitted was to be restored ; and 
that the instigators of the war, whether foreigners or 
prophets, if found within their territory-, ^llCUiCl ^'^p" 
tured and surrendered. The United States voluntarily 
uniGr.±^ r^'ir.tain those (icillded, infatuated people, 
until they shall be enabled to support themselves by 
their own labor." Sir, I will thank any gentleman to 
designate which of these stipulations he would have 
omitted. Are they not all essential to a permanent peace 
and a just indemnification for the injuries we had sus- 
tained from these red allies of Great Britain ? Yes, sir ; 
nor could Gen. Jackson have done less, in the faithful 
performance of his duty ; and less could not have been 
expected by a conquered iribe of Indians under similar 
circumstances. 

The frequent use of the word " demand," which has 
given so much offence, corresponded precisely with the 
nature of the transaction, which was purely military, pur- 
porting on its face to be " articles of agreement and 
capitulation," bearing no resemblance to a formal treaty 
entered into by the mutual consent of two independent 
sovereignties. I can perceive nothing on the face of 
this capitulation, either in form or substance, which is 
inconsistent with a proper respect for our own safety, or 
incompatible with national honor. The right to make 
roads and establish trading houses and military posts on 
the lands reserved to the Creeks, to which exception 
lias been taken, as a high-handed, arbitrary measure, is 



23 



universrd among all the Indian tribes within our limits, 
1 do not believe it Vv^as ever before questioned or com- 
plained ef. But we are told that this compact was not 
entered into by a majority of the Creek nation; that it 
]s not binding- on them ; and the territory acquired under 
it, reverts, under the stipulation contained in the 9th ar- 
ticle of the treaty of Ghent. So said Col. Xichols, and 
Arbuthnot; and so said Lord Castlereagh, until our vi- 
g-ilant and enhg-htened minister then resident in London, 
satisfied hmi that the treaty did not embrace the case. 
England, the only power in Europe interested in the 
question, has abandoned her objections to our title, but 
they are renewed on this floor, doubtless for the sole ob- 
ject cf promoting the interests of the United States ! Sir, 
all that we g-ained during- the late arduous strug-gle with 
Great Britain, except the glory of our land and naval 
victories, was this little indemnity from a domestic ene- 
my, who made war on us without the slightest apology. 
And I ask, if it accords with the "expanded views of'an 
American statesman" to throw the weight of his reason- 
ing and opinions against the fair claims of the United 
States to a tract of country so dearly purchased with the 
best blood of the nation, and thereby revive doubts of 
<oiir title already answered to the entire satisfaction of 
the British cabiiiet; to whom algne we are bound to an- 
swer questions arising under the treaty of peace ? The 
memorable visit cf Nichols, and his red companion, Hilhs 
Hadjo,^ to England, was made for tlie express purpose 
of obtaining the aid of that government in the war, which 
was then contem.plated, to dispossess the United States 
of the lands ceded by the Creek nation on the 9th cf 
August, 1814. Had this debate taken place prior to their 
departure, they would have been furnished with an in- 
terpretation of the treaty of Ghent favorable to their 
cause, given, too, by one of the Amierican commission- 
ers who negociated it, in this deliberative assembly. 
With such a paper, coming from, such high authority, al- 
though not strictly official, they might, indeed, have as- 
sumed an imposing attitude with the British ministry. 
Our difficulties would have thickened arcund us, and the 
peace of the Union might have been endangered, vrith- 
out a relinquishment on our part of the lands so neces- 
sary to the growing strength and population of our south- 
ern states and territories, for the possession of which vvo 
were indebted to the valor and patriotism of that man 
who, for having- done too much for his country, is arraign- 
ed, as a criminal, at the bar of this House. ' The treaty 
of 1790, m.ade at New York, with M^Gillivray, w as ob- 
jected to on the same pretexts now urged to defeat the 
agreement made at Fort Jackson, in 1814. The Baron 



S3 



Be Carondelet, in behalf of the Creek Indians, protest- 
ed against it as absolutely null and void, because it had 
not been sanctioned by a majority of the nation. 0n the 
recent occasion, Spain is silent, and we are favored with 
the humane and benevolent interposition of Nichols and 
Woodbine, Arbuthnot and Ambrister ! I confess, sir, i 
have no ambition to be found in the ranks with either of 
these sag-e and beneficent counsellors : it is enough for 
me to vindicate the rights of my own country against 
the attacks of all foreign emissaries, whatever guise they 
may assume to accomplish their detestable purposes. An 
honorable gentleman from Pennsylvania, (Mr. Hopkin- 
son,) has said, that every step we have taken, in refer- 
ence to the unfortunate aborigines, whom we found in 
possession of the soil over which we nave spread our 
population, has been marked with cruelty and blood ; 
and the honorable Speaker has informed us, that the 
friends of legitimacy in Europe make two serious and 
important charges ag'ainst this country ; the one is an in- 
ordinate spirit of ag'grandizement, and the other the 
treatment which we extend to the Indians. Now, sir, 
with all the respect which I entertain for those gentle- 
men, and for the political morality of the friends of le- 
gitimacy in Europe, I deny, in their whole extent, the 
accuracy of these charges ; they are unsupported either' 
by history or the experience of any man living. When 
did the United States make an offensive war on an Indian 
tribe ? When did they extend their settlements within 
the boundary of Indian territory, without a full equiva- 
lent, agreed on by treaty, fairly concliided and execute 
ed? I challenge any gentleman to put his finger on that 
page of history which affords evidence of these facts. 
And can England or Spain make the same declarations, 
supported by a retrospect on their past conduct towards- 
the Indian tribes witliin their territorial limits ? No, sir! 
they grant lands for military services, and push their 
settlements v/ithout the smallest respect for Indian boun- 
dary. The law of force is the only rule which they re- 
cognise as applicable to tliese people ; and if presents, 
favors, or privileges^ have been occasionally granted to 
them, they were based in avarice, or intended to stimu- 
late them to the numerous wars which have proved so 
fatal to tliem, and which have drenched our extensive 
frontier in the blood of oiir citi^fcns, \ appeal to every 
weste^-n man, whether, in tlie long catalogue of Indian 
hostilities, from the period of the revolution up to the 
present momeiit, one instance can be designated in which 
the war could not be traced to the influence of British 
agents and traders ? V/heth(^' wc have not constantly 



\ 



24 



endeavored to withdraw their attention from the art ox 
war ; to cultivate with them the relations of peace and 
amity; to civihze them, and ameliorate their condition? 
These facts are notorious and indisputable ; they demon- 
strate, most clearly, the mildness and justice of our pohcy 
towards tl>e savag-e tribes, and leave no foundation for- 
the charg-es made on this government, either by the le* 
gitimates of Europe or the citizens of our own countr)'. 

laver, without the fear of contradiction, that th e Uni- 
ted States have, on all occasions, without a single excep- 
tion to the contrary, acted or tlie defensive in the com- 
mencement of every war with our Indian neig-hbors ; 
that they have never turned a deaf ear to the voice of 
conciliation ; and we have abundant evidence that the 
late Seminole war was of a character similar in all re- 
spects to those which preceded it. The finger of Bri- 
tish intrigue, and of Spanish duplicity and connivance, 
are visible, from the very ii* ception of these hostihties to 
their final termination. I will not detain the committee 
by entering into a methodical and critical examination of 
the decuments, in the hands of every gentlemen ; show-, 
ing the means employed to excite this war, the prepa- 
rations made for its prosecution, and the guarantee of ul- 
timate aid from the British government to recover the 
lands for which the outlawed Creeks contended. They 
are voluminous, and multifarious ; many of them official, 
ard all leading to tlie unavoidable conclusion, that no- 
thing short of a restoration of these lands, upon the most 
humihating terms, could avert the impending blow. I 
Villi endeavor to present a summary of the prominent oc- 
currences, on which I may safely rest the vindication 
of this government against the charge of aggression. The 
occupation of a strong military post on the Appalachico- 
la, the asylum of fugitive slaves, of vagabonds, and ban- 
ditti, of hostile Indians, and of all who would enlist un- 
der the English jack, or the bloody flag, is the first cer- 
tain indication of the approaching rupture. It was the 
■nucleus- from which all the subsequent proceedings ge- 
nerated and matured. The government of Spain tacitly 
acquiesced in this open violation of its neutral territory. 
Not even the redoubtable Don Jose Masot was heard to 
complain, except for the seduction and employment of 
negroes belonging so Spanish subjects, in this tri -colored 
collection of outlaws and murderers. The demands made 
on the United States, as the sole condition on which peace 
could be preserved, and the objects contemplated in the 
erection of this .Xegro fort, are specifically announced by 
thatPrince of scoundrels. Col. Edward Nichols, in his se- 
veral letters to Col. Hawkins, then the Creek agent. 



25 



This fellow sometimes styles himself commander of the 
British forces in the Floridas," and at others "commander 
of his B. M. forces i?i the Creek jiation.'^ And on one of his 
communications is endorsed "on his Britannic majesty's 
service" ! What forces had Great Britain in the Flori- 
das, or ill: the Creek nation ? At peace with Spain and 
the United States, by what aathority could that g-overn- 
ment station a military force within the territories of ei- 
ther ? These extraordinary transactions, it is true, havv-? 
been verbally disavowed, but they have never been ex- 
plained inHhe manner called for by their mischievous 
tendency, and necessary to exempt the British ministry 
from the well grounded suspicion of a participation in 
them. On the 28th of April,^ 1815, Nichols informed 
Col. Hawkins that the chiefs had come to a determina- 
tion "not to permit the least intercourse between their 
people and those of the United States. They have, m 
consequence, (said he) ordered them to cease all commu- 
iiication, either directly or indirectly, with the territory 
or citizens of the U. States." They further warned the ci- 
tizens of the U, States from entering the territory or com- 
municating, directly or indirectly, v/ith the Creek people; 
and they describe their territory to beas itstoodin the year 
1811. They add their adhesion to the treaty of Ghent, as 
an independent ally of his Britannic majesty. If a doubt ex* 
ists as to the intent and meaning of this insolent letter, 
which was itself sufficient cause for hostile operations on 
our part, it is fully removed by a subsequent letter from 
the same individual, " commanding his B.M. forcesin the 
Greek nation," dated at the Bmish post on the Appala- 
chicola river. May 12th, 1815. He says — " I have order- 
ed them (the Indians) to stand on the defensive, and 
have sent them a larg'e supply of arms and ammimitio?i, and 
told them to put to dedth ivithout mercy any one molesting 
ihe?77" Again : " They have given their consent to await 
your answer before they take revenge ; but, sir, they are 
impatieal for It, and ivell armed, as the whole nation noW 
is, and stored with ammunition and provisions, having a 
strong hold to retire upon in case of a superior force ap- 
pearing." He likewise threatens the " good^d inno- ^ 
cent citizens on the frontier," and admonishes our agent 
"that they do not find that our citizens are evacuating*. 
their lands according to the ninth article of the treaty of 
Ghent." After this undisguised exposition of their sine 
qua non, their means of annoyance, their security from 
attack by a superior force in the " strong l)old" which 
the sagacity of their leader had provided, and their im- 
pudent threat of war and vengeance against "the good 
and irmocent^citizens on the frontier," what man, whose- 
3 



26 

mind is free from the despotic sway of prejudice, can he - 
sitate as to the settled determination of these Indians to 
commence hostilities on the United States, whenever 
they should be ordered to strike, by their good friend 
Col. Nichols ? To Ascertain vvith certainty how far they 
might depend on British protection, Nichols and Hillis 
Hadjo proceeded to London, with the famous address of 
all the chiefs to their good father King George. This 
paper, of which Col. Nichols is both the hero and the au- 
thor, breathes the same spirit of enmity to this country, 
which runs through the whole of his letters and corres- 
pondence. In order to recommend themse' e.s to the 
favor of the king, they assure him that they " have fought 
and bled for him against the Americans; thar ihey will 
truly keep the talks which his chief hsLS given them, if he 
will be graciously pleased to continue his protection ; 
that they are determined to cease having any communi- 
cation with the Americans, and warn tiiem to keep out 
of their nation." These talks, which they gave a pledge 
truly tokeep^ were to " put to death, without mercy, 
every American: who should be found on the lands ceded 
by the treaty of Fort Jackson." The deputation was re- 
ceived with ev ery mark of politeness and attention. Hil- 
lis Hadjo was honored by the Prince Regent with the 
rank of Brigadier General in his majesty's service, and 
presented with a splendid suit of British uniform, toge- 
ther with a rifle, tomahawk and scalpirig knife, ot Bri- 
tish manufacture, with the royal arms engraven upon 
each of them. These circumstances atcracted the atten- 
tion of Mr. Adams, our minister there, and several notes 
were addressed by him to Earl Bathurst, and Lord Castle- 
reas-h, on the subject of the unwarrantable proceedings 
of Nichols, in Florida, and of the address before noticed, 
which was called a treaty oftensive and defensive. To 
these notes no written reply was furnished ; tney care- 
fully avoided a correspondence, in writing, relative to 
these transactions ; and Lord Bathurat, wUcii proe.^a by 
our minister, in a conversation, observed, " to tell you 
the truth. Col. Nichols is, I beheve, a man of activity and 
spirit, but a very wild fellow." H* sent him word that 
he had no authority to make a treaty offensive and de- 
fensive with these Indians, and that the government 
would not make any such treaty. He decbned seeing 
him on that project, but expressed his ^tention of na- 
vine: an interview with him on the affairs of Floiida, ^e^ 
neraUy. This guarded course of conduct, con.bined with 
subsequent evints, go far to strengthen the behef that 
ti e proceedings of Nichols on all the other points were 
r^^tLapprove'd, although they couldnotreceivethe open 



27 



appfobation of the British cabinet. That war was to be 
made on the United States by the Indians in Florida, and 
their white and black allies, is a tact established by such 
a crowd of testimony, that it would be difficult to select 
that which would be deemed most conclusive and satis- 
factory. I will select only one deposition, which is so 
well supported, and affords such precise information, that 
I beg- leave to read it to the committee. 

" The deposition of Samuel Jervais* 
SamuelJervais being- duly sworn, states, that he has 
l)een a serg-eant of marines in the British service for thir- 
teen years past : That, about a month ag-o, he left Appa- 
lachicola, where he had been stationed for several months: 
That the Eng'lish colonel Nichols had promised the hos- 
tile Indians at that place a supply of arms and ammuni- 
tion, a larg-e quantity of which had been delivered to 
them a few days beforehis depju-ture, and after the news 
of a peace between Eng-land and the United States being 
confirmed, had reached Appalachicola : That, among- the 
articles delivered, were, of cannon four 12 pounders, one 
howitzer, and two cohorns, about 3000 stand of small 
arms, and near 3000 barrels of powder and ball: Tiiat 
the British left with the Indians between three and four 
hundred neg-roes, taken from the United States, princi- 
pally from Louisiana : That the arms and ammunition 
v/erefor the use of the Indians and neg-roes, for the pur- 
poses, as it was understood, of war with the U. States : 
That the Indians were assured by the British command- 
er, that, according- to the treaty of Ghent, all the lands 
ceoed by the Creeks in treaty with General Jackson were 
t© be restored ; otherwise the Indians must fiHit for 
those lands, and that the British would in a short time as- 
sist them. his 

SAML. X JERVAIS. 
mark. 

Swoi-n a;id sul.scribed lu, before me, this 9th Mav, 1815 
at the town of Mobile. 9 

L. JUI>SON, J. P." 

The evidence of this man is substantially sustained by 
l.t. Loomis, who so g-allantly commanded the expedition 
which blew up the Neg-ro Fort, and with it all ihe miser- 
able miscreants who had soug-ht refuge within its walls 
Besides the letter of Lt. Loomis to Commodore Patter- 
son, I am authorised by a naval officer of hig-h respecta- 
bih.y to state, that, at the time this fort was destroyed 
Uiere were m it 800 barrels of powder, 3000 stand of 
?nf^ro'f ^^^'^P^^^^^'^^^' cases, equipments complete 
for 500 dragoons, pistols, cutlasses, and carbines, four 2^. 



28 



pounders, taken from the British frigate Cydnus, wit.i 
the name of that ship on them, one field piece, mounted, 
and two 54 inch brass howitzers: Such were the prepa- 
rations made for the war, which was suspended only toi 
the arrival of the red chief Hilhs Hadjo, /^^f,; 
iiion. Col. Nichols. The destruction of this " strong hold, 
on which the Indians might retire in case of dwco"*- 
ture, and of the arms and ammumtion which had been 
deposited there, inducedNichols P'-o"-=^^*^"f,%^'\^f: 
turn to. Florida, and to appoint, as his successor m the 
woodwork which he had begun, Alexander Arbuthnot. 
If the island of New Providence. Tms man made his ap- 
pearance in Florida, in the character of an English trad- 
f r, in the year 1817, and simuhaneously_ the war whoop 
resounded through the forests, and Uie blood of our citi- 
zens began to flow on the borders of Georgia, and the A- 
labama territory. I shall presently take a closer vievv ot 

Uie means resorted to by this infei'"=^l-'™^^'°"^Ve,uded 
die the flame of war and vengeance among the dduded 
Seminoles and Red Sticks. It is enough, on th s paU o| 
the argument, to shew that they were succes.ml and 
that actual violence was committed on ti^-e gpodjtnd 
peaceable inhabitants of thefront.er," in oonfo™ ty with 
the menace of his predecessor Nichols ; and that th^^^^^^^ 
Stites were compelled to take up arms, and cliasa.e 
fhes^ savaUs, in t^eirown defence, after repeated efforts 
o bi^nS tSto asense of jushce, and of their own in- 
eres^^f by friendly talks, aii pacific -monstrauces 

Need I ransack the documents on 9«r ^ ^""^^ 

the evidence of the murders and robberies which prece- 
Id tl^e determination of this government to^^^^^^^^^ 
off-ensive operations agaaist the Indians in Houda^ 
^ii«t be fresh in the recollection of every gentleman. 
Lve been so often repeated by my honorable 

soon ripened ^"^"/^f^^XenVwer^^ and 
•Itrfied uX^Siw pretence of re- 

iS:ntf:i.outragesall^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Used by the Geoi^a^s, on tj- people. ^ J^^^,^ „ 
5th of February, 1817, the &oy_ernor 5 _ 

solemn "PPeal to the ge-ier^^^^^^^^^ „,e 
tionof the exposed settlements vwt circumstances 
state over which he P'-e^^ed. "e <Jeta s c. ^^^^ 
calculated to leave no doubt ''f *e f °s^^^^^^^^ Kuk- 
.avages,-andofthe active preparations «m..n ^\e 



29 

ing", by Woodbine and Nichols/to carry their hellish de^ 
sig-ns into execution. Scenes of cruelty, at the recital of 
which humanity shudders, followed in succession, and 
still the Executive paused, and derna* dedthe punishment 
only of the offenders. On the 24th of February, 1817, 
fifteen Indian warriors entered the peaceful dwelling of 
the uiifortunate Garret, a citizen of Wayne county, in 
Georg'ia ; finding- in it only Mrs. Garret, and her two in- 
fant children, the eldest of whom was three years old, 
and the other in its mother's arms, on whom she had bft« 
stowed her tender smiles and caresses for the short pe- 
riod of two months. The helpless condition of this fa- 
mily, their natural protector being- absent, innocent and 
unoffending, ahke incapable of inflicting or repelling in- 
jury and insult, surrounded by a band of armed ruffians, 
exhibited a picture of human misery, and heart -rendine" 
distress, which might wxll have tamed the ferocity of the 
most bloody monster, who ever trod the face of the ha-^ 
bitable globe. But their cries and entreaties were una- 
vailing ; the unhappy mother was twice shot through the 
body, stabbed, and scalped, her two babes murdered, her- 
house robbed of all the valuables which it contaitTed, and, 
to complete the melancholy catastrophe, the lighted torch 
was applied to the building, where once they enjoyed 
the sweets of domestic comforts, and where ' now their 
mangled and lifeless forms lay prostrate, covered .vith 
the warm blood yet streaming from their hearts and the 
flames which ascended to heaven wafted their spirits in-^ 
to the presence of a just God, while, amidst the devour-- 
ing element, tlieir ashes mingled in one common grave, 
1 he mind which can contemplate with calm composure 
deeds of cruelty and barbarity like these, must be desti- 
tute of that refined sensibility which ennobles and dhnff- 
hes our nature? in all the social relations of life. 

This act alone, independent of the black list which both 
firriT v"" f f^^^^^^'^f was open, unqi a ified war on 
the United States, unless the criminal prrpetrators of 
these crimes, whose enormity resembles more the tales 
ot hction and romance thau the narrative of real unso^ 
phistibated truths, should receive the rompt and con- 
chgn i^unisliment wkich they so justly merited. General 
Gaines, in obedience to instructions, demanded the mur-^ 
derers, and admonished the chiefs and warriors of the con- 
sequences which would result from a refusal to con>plv 
With his demand. It was not only refused, but fre^h out^ 
rages, ot a smalar character, were repeated, until the sei^. 
zure and indiscriminate massacre of a boat's crew, under 
the command of Lt. Scott, put an end to all Ih-dc f con- 
ciliation, and the Secretary of War, by tlic directien of 



30 

the President, ordered the commandhig general to cross 
the Florida hne, and terminate speedily tins war, «w;ta 
exemplary punishment for hostilities so unprovoked. 
The honor of the United States required that every drop 
of innocent blood which had been so wantonly shed snouU 
be washed out by the most ample atonement : and, to ef- 
fect this object, General Jackson was directed to assume 
the immediate command of the forces in tnat quarter ot 
the southern division. . . 

I trust, sir, I have said enough to satisfy the committee, 
that, on our part, the war was strictly defensive ; entered 
into reluctantly, after every reasonable expedient to avert 
St had been resorted to in vain. , , 

\s to the propriety of a formal and legislative declara- 
tion of war against an Indian tribe, the idea never before 
entered the imarinatlon of any man, during ^all the con- 
tests with the aborigines, through which we have^ waded. 
Like many other subtleties which have diversified this 
discussion, it is of modern origin,. arid may be classed a- 
monff the numerous discoveries of the present da) , which 
are not exclusively confined to mechamsm, but frequently 
enlarge the scope, and enlighten the pata of political 
scienSa. The answer to this objection li indeed it de- 
served one. has been given by severa 'V^^r^'^Mlir 
men, and p^irticularly by ray honorable friend trora Ken- 
Scky, (Colonel Johnson). I shall not attempt to eniorce 
t^e argument on a point so little entitled to serious con- 
sideration,.and more especially m this case, where seve^ 
i4l acts of legislation have recogmzed the existence of 
the war, madi *-ith a full knowledge of the orders which 
had been ^iven by the President for its prosecution m a 
foTeiCT territory. At the last session, no exceptions were 
t^ken to these orders, but every man approved them, as 
properly adapted to the exigency by which they were 

'^'Tlhtil now, sir, consider ihe questions .v^nuecl^d -.-Itl. 

the prosecution of the war to its final conclusion ; and 
Ae occupation of St. ilarks and Pensacola, and of the 
fortress of the Barrancas, by the American army. If I 
!t<. Ahv General Jackson entered the territory ot 
I f I answer he was ordered to do so by the Pre- 
^^'^fnni4 LWdStltes. And, with respect to all the 
sident ol ^'f it is sufficient for A/* vindication, 

^^•^1^}eT L^t thfSpfobation of the same Cliief Magis- 
^me who thereb^ incurred the responsibility which 
trate, wiiu _„„t^,i t ip General alone. 



ot.it rvvise 



would have rested on the General alone. 
rrSrni k^anf Pe^aoola, and explain's the gro^^^^^ 



31 

m which they were ordered to be restored to the pos- 
se «=sion of Spain. He states, "that the commanding' ge^- 
ne~ 

he should in effect accomphsh nothing, it he did not de^ 
prive those savages of the resource on which they hack 
calculated, and of the protection on which they had reu^ 
ed, in making the war." And farther, he adas that " m 
entering Florida, to suppress this combination, no idea 
was entertained of hostility to Spain, and, norvever justt/.- 
abie ^ih^Qomm^ndms general was, ni consequence of the 
misconduct of the Spanish ofti(;ers, m entermg bt. Marks 
and Pensacola, to terminate it, by proving to the savages 
and their associates, that they should not be protected 
even there; yet the amicable relations existmg betweeu 
the United States and Spain could not be altered Dy that 
act alone." In addition to these views ot the ^Executive, 
the Secretary of State, in hi^able letter to Mr. Ervmg, ouf 
Minister at Madrid, instructed him to acquaint the Si^amsh 
-government that the President will neit^lier mflict 
punishment nor pass a censure upon General Jackson, lor 
that conduct, the motives for which were founded in the 
purest patriotism : of the necessity for wiuch he had the 
mostimtnediate and effectual means of tormmg a judg- 
ment, ^ud the vindication ofivhich is written in every page 
of the law ofnationsy as well as in the Jirst law oj nature, 
self-defence^ I have referred to these papers, coming 
from the Commander in chief of our army, addressed to 
the Cona:ress of the United States, and, through the ac- 
credited Minister at Madrid, to the Spanish government, 
to counteract the impressions attempted to be made b3^au 
unfounded discrimination between the President and Ge- 
neral Jackson, in relation to the mihtary operai ons of the 
latter in the late Seminole war, 1 am very sure, the Pre- 
,sident would disdain to shelter himself from the impena- 
ini? storm, by seeking refuge under the masked Dattery 
whirh honorable gentlemen have, with so much ingenui- 
ty erected for his safety and defence. 1 he most scru- 
pulous sense of military liouor could not desire a more 
unequivocal approbation, than is given, by the President, 
of the conduct of General Jackson in Florida ; they must 
stand or fall together ; and I consider the feigned effort 
to separate them deceptive and illusory. If censure falls 
on the head of one, it hghts with equal violence upon that 

of the other. , ■ , v . i i .i 

The act of crossing the Florida line, to subdue the 
hostile Indians in that province, appertaiiiing to the domi- 
nions of the Spanish monarchy, was a measure, in the 
execution of which the commanding general did no more 



32 



tnan obey me call ofhis country, and the imperious ob- 
ijptions of duty. If this step was jasahabie on princi- 
ples of pubhc law and the usages of war, tiie sa/ae justi- 
fication runs through all the operations ofth armv un- 
der the command of General Jackson. Self-defence, that 
primary law of nature, either covers the whole of these 
transactions, or it does not afford a vindication of the Ex- 
ecutive, m oi^ering' the troops to march into Florida and 
put a speedy termination to the war. The entry of a 
bellig-erent army into a neutral territory, without the con- 
sent of the sovereig-n, is pn?na facie a vioLition of his 
perfect rig'hts, and amounts to the definition of war de 
facto. Such an entry, even against the will of the neutral 
power, may, nevertheless, be made under particular cir- 
cumstances, and furnish no ground of offence, or cause 
of war, to the neutral sovereign ; and precisely the same 
circumstances will justify the temporary seizur^ of a neu- 
tral town or military post. The conduct of tne neutral 
towards the two belligerents must be impartial ; no pri- 
vilege can be granted to the one, which may not be tak- 
en by the other, in the same extent; and, if refused, 
force may be resorted to, without affording any just 
eause of complaint to the neutral who is guilty of such 
a departure from the rules prescribed to her by the set- 
tied law of nations, which require her to give no assist- 
ance to either party, where there is no obhgation to give 
it, nor voluntarily to furnish troops, arms, ammunition, or 
any thhig of direct use in war. "For, should she favour 
one of the parties to the prejudice of the other, she 
cannot complain of being treated by him as an adherent 
and confederate of his enemy." — Vattel, 332. 

The obligations incurred by treaty constitute the only 
restriction upon the operation of these rules; and I siiall 
presently shew, that, in the late war with the Indians in 
Florida, Spain was bound in a defensive alliance, quo ad 
hoc. With the United States, and that, she not only violat- 
ed her neutral duties, but tiie most solemn stipulation, 
by which she was bound to become a party to tlie war as 
an ally of the United States. But, let it be admitted, that 
the colony of Spam on our southern border was in all re- 
spects entitled to the immunities of an independent neu- 
tral state, and bound onl}^ to observe that impartiality 
which was essential to preserve her pacific relations with 
this country; and I contend, that she was guilty of such 
gross T^artiahty, m supplying the enemy with the means 
of prosecuting the war, with the privileg'e of sheltering 
themselves v/it":':n their fortified places, and with a ready 
market for aH the property which they robbea and plun- 
dered from our citizens, as to have forfeited all claim to 



S3 

the respect due to fah- and honorable rfeutraht:^, and to 
have become identified with the enemy, so far as she 
could, with safetv to herself and utility to them extend 
her aid and assistance hi promoting- their hostile opera- 
tions against the United States. I have already shown, 
from evidence which cannot be controverted, that tni:^ 
war was, on our part, purely defensive, and consequent- 
ly iust : that it was instigated by British emissaries, with 
the assent and connivance of the local authorities •! 
Soain. Florida was the theatre of the war ; there the 
enemy concentrated all his forces, and sought the most 
favorable opportunities of making incursions into our ter- 
ritory; and, after striking an unexpected biow, again 
they retire into this asylum, where they were promised 
security and protection. From 1000 to 1200 men, under 
the command of Hilhshadjo, or the Prophet Francis, were 
collected and stationed at Spanish Bluff, the former resi- 
dence of rmyle and Hambly ; these men, we are told by 
Arbuthnot, were principally Red Sticks who had fled 
from the hmits of the United States and identified tnem- 
selvesin the war with the Seminoles; other bodies ot 
men were scattered over the nation, amounting m the 
whole to more than 2000 warriors. Spain was a passive 
spectator of the scene, and quietly permitted these tu- 
Mtives to elude the vigilance of cur army, by remaining 
within hernet^^raUerritory. The safety of the Lmted 
States, therefore, required, that, in our own aeience, we 
should carry our arms into the country which was thrown 
open to om- enemy, and from which predatory parties 
issued to rob and 'murder our defenceless citizens. In 
doin^so, we were justified by a proper regard tor our 
own interests, and by every principle ol public law, 
Vattel, 345, says ; t * 4-^ 

"It is certain, that if mv neighbour affords a retreat to 
my enemies when defeated and too much weakened to 
escape me. and allows them time to recover and watch a 
fa..o.ai-.hlp. omiortunitv of makiuR-a second attaclv on my 
territories ; this conduct, so prejudicial to m.y sa^e^y and 
interest, would be incompatible with neutrality. If there - 
fore, my enemy, on suflTering a discomfiture, retreat into 
his country, although charity will not allow him to refuse 
them permission to pass in security; he is bound to make 
them continue their march beyond his frontiers as soon 
as possible, and not suffer them to remain in his terntor- 
its, on the watch for a convenient opportunity to attacK: 
me anew ; otherwise, lie gives m.e a right to enter his 
country in pursuit of them. Sucli treatment is often ex 
prrienced by nations that are unable to command re- 
spect, Their territories soon become the theatre of \v?r— 



34 



armies march, encamp, and fight m it, as in a country 
open to all comers." 

Yes sir, the territory of Florida is emphatically a coun- 
try open to all comers." The Brit-sh found a heartv 
welcome there during' the late war. The outlawed 
Creeks receive the right hand of fellowship from Go- 
vernor Masot, and his retinue of official dignitaries ; fu- 
gitive negroes, and banditti, are welcome guests, when 
associated in arms against the United States ; and ,1 am 
persuaded the devil himself would have received holi/ 
orders, had he made his appearance at Pensacola in the 
character of a foe to this country. We alone were exclu- 
ded from the high privilege of^neeting our enemies on 
that soil which was prostituted to every purpose which 
could in any manner subserve their vievrs, and contribute 
to our annoyance. The fortress of Barrancas was peace- 
ably put into the possession of a British and Indian force, 
in our recent conflict with Great Britain. The negro 
fort was erected on the Appalachicola, Vvith the avowed 
intention of war with the United States. The vilest rep- 
tiles in creation were collected to carry the nefarious 
projects of the incendiary Nicholls into' execution, and 
not a murmui' vras heard, 'either from Pizarro or ^Vlasot, 
or the Governor General of Havanna. Bat the moment 
we send a force to suppress these hostile combinations, 
Spanish sensibility breaks through the cloud by which 
It had been concealed. Protests and manifestos proclaim 
to the world the wrongs committed by this government, 
in the violation of the territorial sovereignty of the ador- 
ed Ferdinand. AVith a full knowledge of this fraudu< 
lent neutrality on the part of Spain, and of our rights as 
a nation, to the means of self-pveservation, the President 
would have been unmindful of the high trust and confi- 
dence reposed in him, had he not orde^'ed the army into 
Florida, to terminate the war, vrith exemplarv i^unish- 
mjent for hostihtiesso unprovoked."' The occupation of 

the posts of St. Miirks und irxn^sc^^olo. c.-r,<^. chv rvAci ess 

Barranciis, :is a necessary means of accomplishing' tile 
endforw'iiich Geneiwl Jackson entered the Spanisr. ter- 
ritory. They rest on the same g-eneral principles, and, if 
a distinction is taken which would justify the one and 
condemn the otlier, it must be founded on a diversitv of 
facts, in reference to the facilities and privileg-es granted 
by the authorities of Spain to the other bellig'erent. — 
For there is an universal rule, to which there is no ^x- 
ceptiou, that \\-hatever a neutral power g'rants or refuse.^ 
to one of the parties at war, she must in like manner 
grant ( i C'' ^ * ■hi' ether ; and. if she departs from 
{^his strict line of impartiality, by favoring either to the 



35 



injury of the other, the injured nation raay do herself 
justice, and take by force what is unjustly denied to her. 
Such is the law by which the conduct of all civiUzed 
nations is reg'ulated and governed ; it remains only for 
me to g-Iance at the most promment points in the evidence 
to shew its application, and thereby rescue General 
Jackson from the imputation of having- snatched from 
Congress the power delegated in the constitution to 
" declare war." I ask then, sir, did the Governors of 
St. Marks and. Pensacola allow the Indians and negroes 
free access into~ their fortifications, and supply them 
with arms and ammunition to carry on the war in which 
they were engaged with the United States. To esta- 
blish these facts, with reg\ard to tl\e former, I am per- 
plexed with the difficulty of selecting that part of the tes- 
timony which might be deemed least susceptible of 
doubt or equivocation. The whole volume is full of details 
shewing the abominable duphcity and per'fidy of the 
treacherous Luengo. St.. Marks was the council house 
of the Indians, in which all their plans of operation were 
discussed, in concert with the commandant and his friend, 
Arbuthnot, between whom there existed the most per- 
fect cordiality. St. Marks was, in all respects, substituted 
for the negro fort, which had been destroyed by the gun 
boats under the comm.and of Lieutenant Loomis. To 
that place they retreated, immediately after this disaster 
befel them, and ever since they have made it the depot 
of plundered property, knowm to be so by Luengo him- 
self, who even made contracts with the depredators for 
the beef, cattle, and other property waiich they might 
capture from the people of Georgia. Havnig been 
charged by General Jackson, with conduct so contrary 
to the pacific relations existing between Spain and tiie 
United States, Luengo, ih his defence, written at Pen- 
sacola, on theJStli of May, 1818, more than one monui af- 
ter the occupation of the post by the American troops, 
when all his powers of prevaric^ition were, mvisd to excul- 
pate himselt from these cJiarges, hi reply to the informa- 
tion which had been communicated to the commanding 
general, that he had supplied the Indians and negroes 
with munitions of war, states : « I thought that I had con- 
vinced hnn of the contrary in my answer, in v/hich 1 re- 
presented to hirn, that no one could h^tiev remove from 
his mind any unfavorable impression on this point than Jlr, 
William JIarnbhj, who during his stay here, repeatedly 
interpreted to me the anxiety of the chiefs to obtain 
such supplies, and tliat he could also inform hirn, tliat I 
uniformly counselled the m to avoid tlie destruction which 
has overtaken them, and which ! foresaw from the first.'- 



36 

Now, Sir, what is the evidence of Mr. Hambly, whose 
credibiUty is adniitted by the Spanish commandant, and 
whose situation enabled him to g-ive a full and/precise 
statement of facts ? The letter addressed by him, together 
with Edward Doyle, to General Jackson, exposes the 
transactionsof St. Marksin so clear a light, that I be§ 
leave to read it to the committee. 

TVm. Hambly and £. Doyle, to General Jackson, 

Fort Gadsden, 2d May, 1818, 
Sii^ — We beg leave to submit to you the following facts : 
On the 13th December, 1817, we were violently torn troni 
our settlement, on the Apalachicola river, by a number ot In- 
dians, headed by Chenubby, a chief of the Fowl Town tribe, 
carried to Mickasuky, and delivered to Kena-ee, King ot the 
Mickasukians. Kenagee carried us to the ^ egro '1 owns, on 
the Suwanev, and thence to the Spanisli fort St. Marks— to the 
commandant of which he delivered us as prisoners ot war, cap- 
tured under the orders of a Mr. Arbuthnot, reported to us as 
a British a^ent. At St. Marks we were treated as prisoners, 
and not permitted to wander beyond the walls ot the prrison. 
While at that post, the ingress and egress ot Indians hostile to 
the United States was unresU^ained ; and several councils 
were held; at one of which Kenagee, king ot tlie Alickasukians ; 
Francis, orHillis Hajo ; Hamathlemico, t^e c|ii^^o|tif ''^^^^f - 
ses : and the chief ot Kolemies, all of the old Red fetick party ; 
and Jack Mealy, chief ot the Oche was, were present. When it 
was reported that these chiefs, and dieir warriors, were enter- 
ing fort St. Marks, for the purpose of holding a council, Hani- 
bly represented to the commandant the impropriety of permit- 
' tins such proceedings within the walls of a Spanish fortress, the 
officer of which was bound to preserve and entorce the treaties 
existing between the king of Spain and the IJmted States ; he 
replied to Hambly with some degree ot warmth observmgthat 
it las not in his power to prevent it. On the Indians coming 
into the fort, at their request we were conhned. J he council 
was held in the commandant's quarters. He, the comman- . 
d«nt, was present, but strictly forbade the intrusion ot any ot 

driving ^° ■? Sn"nish officei-s.-^ While al that post, three 
SfCh" es t;^; b^3t in, -knowledge.} by the Indians 
to havL been stolen from the citizens of the L n.ted States and 
^uXsed bv the Spanish officers. We uere present at inost 
^f ttefe contracts, and Hambly often referred to as an mter- 
^vetev between tlie purchaser and seller. Ciienubby, a ¥o^\ 
K Man, once applied to Hambly. to ir.e.Uion to the com- 
ma d-inUhat he was al!oat visiting the tmiUers of Cem-gia, on 
a n umlering expedition, and wished to know whether he would 
nu?"thi caltle brought i"- A contract was ,en>eied into 
Ti c enubbv, some time after, brought m, ""^ l'^?"^^" f 
elcv»R head 6f cattle to the Spanish commandant ot fort bt. 



27 



Marks. These same cattle were those purchased by you, trom 

ihe commandant, as his private property. 

VVI1.LIAM H \MBLY, 
EDWARD DOYLE. 

In support of the statement made by these men, T 
might refer to many others in the volume of documents, 
which have been printed, on this subject. I will, howe- 
ver, dispense with a detailed view of them, and barely 
add an extract from the letter of Lieut. Gadsden, whose 
reputation, as a soldier and a man of honor and veracitVs 
places him above the reach of suspicion. 

J". Gadsden te General Jackson. 

Fort Gadsden, May 3d, 1818. 

Sii'— 'In conversation with the commandant of fort St. Marks 
on the subject of having that work occupied by an American 
garrison^ I had occasion to notice the aid and comfort that the 
hostile party of Indians had received, as reported, from him • 
that they had free access witliin the walls of his fort, and that it 
was well known no small supplies of ammunition had been re- 
ceived from that quarter. In reply, he stated that his conduct 
bad been governed by policy : the defenceless state ofhis work^ 
and the Weakness ofhis garrison, compelled him to conciliate 
the friendship of the Indians — to supply their wants — to granr 
what he had not the power to deny, and to tlirow open, with 
apparent willingness, the gates ofhis fortress, lest they should be 
forced fey violence ; that he had been repeatedly threatened by 
Indians and negroes, and that his security depended upon ex*- 
hibiting an external friendship. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

JAMES GADSDEN", Aid-de-Camp. 

From the testimony of these respectable witnesses, and 
many others to whom I think it unnecessary to refer, it 
IS evident that the enemy had the unlimited use of tliis 
fort for all the purposes of war ; that their stolen proper- 
ty was received, and contracted for bv the commandant, 

k-mviviner if. to he. such : and that they wevo supplied 

xvitn arms and ammunition, and every other material, to 
enable them to continue their agg'ressions on the unpro^ 
;^cted nihabitants of Georg-ia and the Alabama territory 
llie only apolog-y offered by the commandant, for his 
untriendJy and unwarrantable conduct, was, that he had 
been repeatedly threatened by the Indians and necroes, 
and that his security depended upon exhibiting an ex- 
^^^maZ friendship. It is immaterial whether we take the 
*acts or the excuse, for either, unconnected with the oth- 
er will amount to a justification of General Jackson in 
tak.ng- forcible possession of that post. " To conduct 
prisoners, or conve^f siores, to a place of safety, are acts 
4 



38 



ofivar, consequently not to be done in neutral coun- 
try, and whoever would permit them woiUd depart irom 
liie line of neutrality by favoring one of the paities. A- 
cain, " necessity may even authorize the temporary sei- 
zure of a neutral town, and putting a garrison therein, 
with a view to cover ourselves from the enemy, or to 
prevent the execution of his designs against that town. 
Vattel, 342-4. The truth is, that our enemy was de- 
nied nothing which he asked, and we were refused the 
humble privilege of putting the P^ce m ^t^t^ °* 4^' 
fence against an enemy who ought to have been consid- 
ered common to Spain and the United States. n such a 
c^e to have hesitated would have been pusillanimous 
and disgraceful in the commanding general. Pfsing 
from St^i Marks to Pensacola, there is no substantia 
Sge either of principle or fact. General Ja^kso" J^t 
is trul al^ie^dat^of his letter to the Secretary of J^^^^^^ 
from St. MaASrthought the war at an end. His heaUii 
havTngbeenmuch im^airedby the hardslnps and fet.g^^^^^^ 
of the service in which he was engaged, he had deter- 
mined trJetarn to Nashville ; but subsequent informa- 
tion of which we have the most authentic proof, satisfied 
hrm tharhe had not yet effected the object of the cam- 
Sn The indians,^deprived of their accustomed resort 
?t St. Marks, flew to Pensaeola, where they had always 
hlen received with open arms by the Governor. Ex- 
l7m:::Z^M U massacres committed by 
Parties of hostile Indians, going directly from that place 
to the Escambia and Alabama. , 
I will not detain the committee by a '•efej-ence to ^^^^^ 

ting murders on the P^"Pl« ^f^^^wetfof his Catho- 

ty or forty witnesses mf//[„t^^|™/J^^?f„f thLe, testUV 

Vic Majesty, »i °7 !""f ^'^^a munitions of war, 

to these facts and^Seminoles, from 

wereregularlyissued to the CieeKs a ^^.^^^ 

the King's «tore-house, dumg b^^^^^^ 

have been ^'^f«^^^'fllt^Xy.n&ve<i Indians, driven 
ousbodies, offTOni two to h e ^^^^^^ 

from other jarts of ^l,°/XVAe approach of ourarmy; 
pensacola, but a few da>s alter tne u Governor 

thev were armed and equipped ^j^^ ^rd- 

Masot. The leaden aprons were taken i. oin t 
S^ce atthe Barrancas, and run 



39 



ma, and of our frontier settlers in that quarter, may all 
be attributed to the free admission of the hostile In- 
dians into Pensacola, and the assistance afforded them by 
the Spanish Governor. General Jackson was well in~ 
formed of these circumstances, and saw ii/ them certain 
indications that all his previous operations were worse 
than useless, if he returned without leaving an American 
g-arrison at Pensacola. He accordingly moved towards 
that town, after having discharged the Georgia militia, 
whose services were no longer necessary. He made Gov- 
ernor Masot distinctly acquainted with his views, and the 
basis on which his conduct was founded ; that he enter- 
ed the territorv of his Catholic Majesty, not as the ene- 
my but as the friend of Spain, to inflict merited punish- 
ment on the common disturber of the peace of both 
countries ; that he meant nothing more than to place an 
American force in Pensacola and the Barrancas, which 
should be sufficient to guarantee the security of the Uni- 
ted States from a protracted Savage war. He never in-= 
tiraated an intention of disturbing either the civil or mih- 
tary authorities of Spain. In return, Governor Masot 
protested against the entrance cf the American com- 
mander into his territory, for any purpose ; ordered him, 
in the name of the King, to depart forthwith, and threat- 
ened to repel force by force, if he persisted in his inten- 
tions. The well known valor and intrepidity of General 
Jackson took fire at his' insulting menace; he w^ould 
have preferred an honorable grave, under the walls of the 
Spanish fort, to a cov/ardly, disgraceful retrograde,under 
the gasconading- threat of tliis impotent instrument of a 
monarch, whose very name excites the snlile of contempt 
throughout the civihzed w^orld. He moved directly to 
the town of Pensacola, and mark, I beseech you, sir, the 
conduct of Governor Masot. The Indian warriors who were 
with him,and their families,were shipped in public vessels 
across the Bay to the Island of Santa Kosa. He retiredbefore 
the American army, who really intended to do him no 
violence, into the fortress of San Carlos de Barrancas, 
where he permittea Uimseif to tremble ana equivocate 
for a day or two, and then, by his oivn request, the fort 
was delivered into the hands of General Jackson, and the 
Spanish troops, with this mag'nanimous governor at their 
head, were transported to the Island of Cuba. We are 
told by honorable gentlemen, that this last measure gave 
to the transaction all the pomp and circumstance of war. 
That the Spanish troops were made prisoners of war, 
and forced to quit the coinitry in which they were sta- 
tioned under the protection of their sovereign. There 
would indeed be some plausibility in the conclusion, if 



40 



th^ premises assumed were not destitute of foundation* 
Every proposal relating to the surrender of the fort came, 
from Governor Masot; it was by his own desn^e that vessels 
were provided far the transportation of the g-arrison, and 
the officers attached to the civil adnunistration, and of 
the Alabama Chief HopayhoaV and family,* to the 
Havana. It was his own puerile resistance which gave 
to this affair the aspect of a capitulation. General Jack- 
son never contemplated an act of hostihty against Spain ; 
his sole object was to give peace and security to his own 
country, and to guard against the renewal of hostilities, by 
prohibiting the customary supplies which the Seminoles 
and Red Sticks received from this faithless unprincipled 
Governor. In proof of this, I refer to his whole corres- 
pondence, and the general order issued after the surren- 
der of the Barrancas. In a letter dated at Pensacola, the 
25th of May, 1818, General Jackson tells Governor Masot 
"If the force which you are now disposed wantonly to 
sacrifice had been wielded against the Seminoles, the A- 
meriean troops had never entered Florida." And the 
following extract from his general order, issued on the 
occasion, fully explains the motive by which he was gov- 
erned, and excludes the supposition that he intended ta 
commit an act of war against Spain. 

Major General Andrev/ Jackson has found it necessary to 
f ake possession of Pensacola. He has not been prompted to 
ihis measure from a wish to extend the territorial limits of the 
United States, or from any unfriendly feeling on the part 
oi the American republic towards die Spanish government. 
The Seminole Indians, inhabitiJig the territories of Spain, have, 
lor more than two years past, visited our frontier settlements 
with all the horrors of savage massacre ; helpless women have 
been butchered, and the cradle stained witli the blood of inno- 
^;ence ; these atrocities, it was expected, wotdd have early at- 
ti'acted the attention of the Spanish government, and, faithful 
to existing treaties, speedy measures adopted for their suppres- 
sion. That, so far from bemg able to control, the Spanish au- 
thorities were ofteii compelled , from policy or necessity, to is- 
sue munitions of war to these savages, thus enabliug, if not ex- 
'^itins:, tlicm, to raise the toniahawk ao-ninst ris 

*It is worthy of particular notice, that this Indian chief was 
one of the principal instigators of the war, and had but a short 
time before sent out a party of outlawed Creeks,who massacreed 
Stokes's family, and brought in the bloody clothes of the wo- 
men and cliiidren, which were sold publicly in the streets of 
Pensacola, Why is Governor Masot so much interested for 
his safety, as to make it one of the specific conditions on which 
he would surrender the fort ? And also to bind himself, m " the 
name of his goverjivirn-'.fh^^i the sf)id chief shall never return to 
ihe FlorrcMs 



41 



The imruuiable laws of self-defence, therefore, eompelied 
the American government to take possession of such parts ot' 
the Floridas, in v/Jiich the Spanish authority could not be main- 
tained. Pensacola was found in that situation, and will be held 
until Spain can furnish military strength sufficient to enforce ex- 
isting treaties." 

And what, "sir, was the existing* treaty, to which the 
general alludes ? I have said that it is a treaty of defen^ 
sive alliance, giio afi Iixlian hostilities, between Spain and 
the United States. The 5th article is in the following 
words: 

" The two high contracting parties shall, by all the means in 
their power, ni^iintain peace and harmotiy among tlie several 
Indian nations who inhabit the country adjacent to the lines and 
rivers which, by the preceding artitles, form the boundaries of 
the two Floridas. And, the better to obtain this effect, both 
parties o6%e themselves expressly to restrain, by force, all hos- 
tilities on the part of the Indian nations living within their boun- 
dary ; So that Spain will not suffer her Indians to attack the 
citi^sensof the United States, nor the Indians inhabiting their 
territory ; nor shall the United States permit these last men- 
tioned Indians to commence hostilities against the subjects of 
his Catholic Majesty or his Indians, in any manner whatever." 

Vattel, 323, thus defines a defensive alliance. " Some 
alliances are both ofTensive and defensive ; and there sel- 
dom is an offensive alliance which is not also a defensive 
one. But it is very usual for alliances to be purely de- 
fensive ; and these are, in general, the most natural and 
lawful. It would be a tedious, and even useless task, to 
enumerate in detail all the varieties incident to such alli- 
ances. Some are made without restriction, ag-ainst all op= 
ponents ; in others, certain states are excepted ; others, 
ag-ain, are formed against such or such a nation, expressly 
mentioned by name." Of the latter class is the alliance 
entered into by Spain in the article of the treaty of the 
27th of October, 1793, with the United States. This ar- 
ticle was inserted to prevent the recurrence of difficulties 
which had arisen between the two governments, as early 
as the year 1791, respecting the Creek tribe of Indians. 

spiritea itna acriiuuiiioaa v^oiicspuna^rnce tooK: place' 
at that period, between Gordoqui, the Spanish ministe/ 
and Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State. Spain alle- 
ged that it was the intention of this government to exter- 
minate the Greek nation, and to seize on their lands • 
and we charged the hostihties of the Indians to Spanish 
and- British agency, and influence, originating in motives 
unfriendly to the peace of the United States. The con- 
troversy was maintained with increased violence, until 
ai'tichs of the treaty of 1795 were agreed on, in which 
•he parties agree to make a common cause in the sup- 



4® 

pression of Indian wafs, on their respective borders. But 
it is said that this does not fall within the definition of 
an alHance, because the duties to be performed by each 
nation are confined to their own territorial limits. The 
case now under consideration exposes the fallacy of this 
objection. The Seminole tribe of Indians have made an 
unprovoked war on the United States ; we, in our o\m 
defence,under the sanction of the pubhciaw of nations,en- 
ter the territory of Florida, to put a speedy termination 
to this war. Spain, by treaty stipulation, is ipso facto 
bound to become a party to the war, on our side ; and 
I ask if the armies of both powers would not, on meetmg, 
regard each other as friends, fighting for a common ob- 
iect, specified in the existing treaty between the two go- 
vernments ? They could be considered in no other light 
than as alhed forces, against a common enemy, rendered 
so by the solemn engagement of Spain "expressly to re- 
train, by force, all hostihties on the part of the Indian 
nations living within her boundary." The violation of 
tliib treatv, while it fixes an indelible stain on the Spanish 
nation, does not abrogate the rights which we may law- 
fully claim and exercise under it. As an ally, we had the 
right, without giving cause of offence to Spam, to enter 
the territory in pursuit of the enemy ; to claun the hos- 
pitalitv of the authorities there ; to occupy the strong 
positions which might be necessary to the safety of our 
army, and the discomfiture of the enemy ; and to claim 
admission into her fortifications, doing no injury to pubUc 
or private property. And yet all these privileges were 
freely granted to the hostile Indians, and sternly denied 
to us, contrary to the principles of fair and honest neu- 
tralitv, and in direct violation of the obligations unposed 
on Spj^n, fey virtue of her treaty with the United States. 
« The sovereign who violates his engagements on pre- 
tences that are evidently frivolous, or who does not even 
think it worth his while to allege any pretence whatever 
to e-ive a colorable gloss to his conduct, and cast a veil 
over his want of faith—it is such a sovereign who dese^^ 

\i the dXTtton be n^Tiitefah^^ apphcabYto Spain in the 
conduct of her oncers at St. Marks and Pensacola, dur- 
ine the late Seminole war, I confess 1 do not understand 
the ose of words, or the meaning of the English language. 
We S the pka of imbecility in its fullest extent ; we 
vZXt this province has been almost abandoned by the 
^Lent coun^^^^^ but that will not excuse the aid and com- 
FortfesTowed on our enemy; nor the order to^^eneral 
Tackson to leave the territory ; nor the threat of com« 
in <mse of his refusal to obey the order of his 



43 



tholic Majesty's representative. Sir, every gentleman 
must be satisfied, that if, instead of the inhospitable treat- 
ment which our army experienced, and the empty me- 
nace with which it was insulted, the hand of friendship 
had been held out to us, and a cordial reception given to 
our troops, so long as they adiiered to the legitimate ob- 
ject for wiiich they entered Florida, neither St. Marks 
or Pensacola would have been occupied longer than the 
most urgent necessity required. The honor of the Spa- 
nisii monarch migiit have been preserved, and the autho- 
rity of his officers iiave remained undisturbed. " To re- 
fuse an ally the succors due to him, without having any 
just cause to allege for such refusal, is doing him an in- 
jury, since it is a violation of the perfect right which we 
gave him by a formal engagement." And further : " As 
it is an obligation naturally incumbent on us to repair 
any damage caused by our fault, and especially by our 
injustice, w^e are bound to indemnify an ally for all the 
losses he may have sustained in consequence of our un- 
just refusal." — Vattel, 327. Whether we consider the 
question as resting on the great and universal principles 
which regulate belligerent rights, and neutral duties, or 
the sacred and inviolable obligations of treaties. General 
. Jackson stands erect, and the people of this nation will 
accord to him their hearty thanks for his manly inde- 
pendence in asserting and maintaining their rights. 

Mr. Chairman, I will readily concede to honorable gen- 
tlemen, that, if war was made on Spain, either by the 
orders of the t'resident, or by General Jackson, without 
the authority of Congress, it amounts to a violation of the 
Constitution, and the most severe punishment, and not 
mere censure, ought to await the guilty hand which aims 
a blow at the tree of liberty, on the soil where alone it 
it is permitted to grow and flourish. But I deny that ai> 
act of war either has been,or was designed to have been, 
eommitted by General Jackson, in any part of his pro- 
ceedings in Florida. By war> I wish to be understood to 
mean that state of things which puts one nation in colli- 
«: ... .«;fU Qi^r^thf>r> r whir.h arr;i\s the neonlft of one sove- 
rc.gnty agamst tht people ot another sovereignty ; and 
not such acts as may or may not eventuate in a rupture 
between powers in amity with each other. The maxi- 
mum. must be reached, or the constitutional power of 
Cvyugress to declare war remains inviolate. Suffer me 
to illustrate this postulatum, by showing its analogy to 
anotner and a more famihai- subject. Suppose a bill sus- 
pending the habeas corpus is proposed in this House, at 
a time of profound peace, both at home and abroad ; eve- 
ry gentleman will admit that the passage of such a bill 



44 

would violate an express provision of the Constitution , 
I ask, if it should pass the first and second readings, and 
be ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, if, on 
the question, shall tiie bill pass, it is rejected — whether 
any of tlie incipient proceedings amounted to a breach 
of the Constitution ? I presume it will not be contended 
that they did. The violation of the instrument begins 
with the operation of the measure which it prohibits. So 
neither is an incipient step taken by a subordinate autho- 
rity under the government, which bears the semblance 
of hostility to a foreign nation, war, until it passes the 
ordeal of the ultimate power of both countries, and is 
deemed by them not susceptible of amicable and honor- 
able explanation and amends. Let us tesi the conduct of 
Genert IJacTiison by these plain and simple rules, and it 
will be found that he has neither violated the Constitu- 
tion, nor compromitted the peace of the nation. 

I have already attempted to prove to the committee that 
the conduct of Spain, in relation to our savage enemy, 
justified the entrance of our army into her territory, and 
the occupation of the posts of St. Mai'ks, Pensacola, and 
the fortress of Barrancas. But T will admit, for argument 
,sake,that these latter acts were not strictly justifiable, and 
that Spain had a right to complain of them ; and yet, I 
say, they did not amount to the definition of war, and con- 
sequently, that General Jackson is not chargeable with 
having usurped the powers of Congress. To sustain this 
position, I rely on the practice of the most enlighten- 
ed European governments, in cases similar in their 
character ; and on the effect of these measures— up- 
on the subsisting relations between Spain and the 
United States. The lEuropean precedents to which 
I shall refer, may be found in the celebiated letter of Mr. 
Madison to Mr.- Rose, on the subject of the attack on the 
American frigate Chesapeake, by the British ship Leop- 
ard ; I beg leave to read them, in the order g^ven to them 
in that correspondence.* In these instances force was 

*T _ -.-^'..-O. ,1:.^-. .-^K.^^T>..%r>i- ---^J y 

who had, according to annual custOiii, taken possession ot 1 urk s 
islandfor the season of making salt, having been forcibly remo- 
ved with their vessels and effects, by a French detachment 
from the Island of St. Domingo, to which Turk s island ^v;^s al- 
le^red to be an appurtenance, the British ambassador at Pans, 
ill inirsLiance of instruction from his government, demanded, as 
a satisfaction for the violence committed, that the proceedings 
should be disavowed— the intention ot acquiring 1 urk s island 
disclaimed— orders given for the immediate abandonment ot it 
on the part of the French— every thing restored to the condition 
■m which it was at the time of the aggression— and reparation 



45 



resorted to ; actual violence used, blood spilt, vessels 
captured, whole settlements broken up and destroyed, 
and yet the proud and haughty monarchs of England, 
France, and,! may add, of Spain, at that day, did not con- 



made of the damages which any British subjects should be 
found to have sustaitie(i, according to an estimation, to be set- 
tied between the governors of St. Domingo and Jamaica. A 
complianee with the whole of this demand was the result. 

Again — ^In the year 1789, certain English merchants, having 
opened a trade at Nootka somid, on the north-west coast of 
America, and attempted a settlement at that place, the Span- 
iards, who had long claimed that part of the v^orld as their ex- 
clusive property, detached a frigate from Mexico, which captu- 
red the two English vessels engaged in the trade, and broke up 
the settlement on the coast. The Spanish government was the 
first to complain, in this case, of the intrusions committed by 
the Britisli merchants. The British government, however, de- 
manded that the vessels taken by the Spanish frigate should be 
rest6i*ed, and adequate satisfaction granted, previous to any 
Qther discussion. This demand prevailed, the Spanish gov- 
ernment agreeing to make full restoration of the captured ves- 
sels, and to indemnify the parties interested in them for the los - 
ses sustained. They restored, also, the buildings and tracts of 
land, of which the British subjects had been dispossessed. The 
British, however, soon gave proof of the little Talue they set on 
the possession, by a voluntary dereliction, under which it has 
since remained. 

The case which will be noted last, though of a date prior to' 
the ease of Nootka sound, is tliat of Falkland's islands. These 
i slands lie about 100 leagues westward of the Straits of Magel- 
Ian. The title to them had been a subject of controversy a- 
mong several of the maritime nations of Europe. From the 
position of the islands, and several other circumstances, the 
pretensions of Spain bore an advantageous ci>mparison with 
those of her competitors. In the year 1770, the British took 
possession of port Egmont, in otie of the Islands, the Spaniards 
being at the time in possession of another part, and protesting 
against a settlement by the British. The protest being without 
effect, ships and troops were serit from Buenos Ayres, by tlie 
governor of that place, which forcibly dispossessed and drove oif 

The British government, looMng entirely to the disposses- 
sion by force, demanded, as a speeiiic condition of preserving 
liarmony between the two courts, not only the disavowal of the 
Spanish proceedings, but tliat the affairs of that setdement 
should be immediately restored to the precise state in which 
they were previous to the act of dispossession. The Spanish 
government made some difficulties — requiring particularly a 
disavowal, on the part of Great Britain, of the conduct of her 
officer at Falkland's Island, which it was alleged gave occasion 
to the steps taken by the Spanish governor, and proposing an 
ittljustment by mutual stipulations, in the ordinary form. 

The reply was, that the moderation of His Britarmic Majesty 



46 



sider either of them as actual war, but occurrences ^-'^ cu 
to fair and candid explanation and honorable amends; 
which being demanded, resulted in the preservation ofe. 
peace between the parties concerned. 

These were direct acts of hostility, committed bv the 
military of one power against the subjects of the other 
without a previous declaration of war, and therefore more 
offensive to the dignity and honor of the sovereign, thaa 
the temporary occupation of a town or fci-^ress, m the 
prosecution of a war with another nation, to whom the 
same privilege liad been gi*anted. According tc the 
practice of nations, therefore, the proceedings at St. 
Marks and Pensacola cannot be regarded as deciding ^he 
question of peace and war between Spain and the Uniied 
States, waivingall the circumstances v.^hichso fully justify 
the commanding general. Neither government under- 
stood them as amounting to a change of the amicable . 
lations which existed prior to these occurrences, arict 
which it was their mutual desire to preserve. Spain de- 
manded a restitution of tlie posts in the possession of the 
American troops; they were ordered to be restored; 
Pensacola unconditionally, and St. Marks on the appear- 
ance of an adequate force to protect it from the savages. 
The Spanish minister, in the name of his master, also de- 
manded the punishment of Gen. Jackson ; he was tcid, 
that the President would " neither inflict punishment; or 
pass a censure'^ on the general, for conduct which f tnd 
its justification in the perfidy and duplicity of Governor 
Masot, and the officers of his Catholic Majesty, in Florida! . 
We, on our part, demanded the punishment of thesf 
Spanish officers ; they have neither been punished, nor 
their conduct formally investigated. Thus the affair has 



having limited his demand to the smallest reparation he could 
accept for the injury done, nothing was left for discussion but 
the mode of carrying the disavowal and restitution into execu- 
tion — reparation' losing its value if it be conditional^^ and to 
be obtained by any stipulation whatever from the pai'ty iniuictl 
of its officers were disavowed : the fort, the port, and every 
thing else, were agreed to be immediately restored to the pi e- 
cise s'tuation which had been been disturbed; and duphcatcs 
of orders issued for the purpose to the Spanish officers, vv ct e 
delivered into the hands of oneof tlie British principal Secreta- 
ries of State. Here, again, it is to be remarked, that satisfae 
tion having been made for the forcible dispossession, the islam U; 
lost their importance in the eyes of the British governmei : — 
were in a short time finally evacuated, and port Egmom i l - 
mains, with ever>' other part of them, in the Imnds of Spf .:n 



47 



terminated, to the satisfaction of both parties, so far as it 
is essential to the preservation of peace between the two 
countries. It did not orig'inate in a disposition to produce 
a rupture with Spain, either on the part of the President 
"GeneralJackson. Pizarro blustered for awhile; 
hed his protest ; interdicted all further communi- 
3 with this government until proper explanations 
nade, and submitted the matter to the cong^ress of 
Gbapelle ; hoping to excite the sympathy of the 
aiiied sovereigns, and to obtain their interposition in be- 
half of Spain. He, however, in a few days, so far subdu- 
ed liis resentment, as to resume his u^ual correspond- 
ence and intercourse with Mr. Erving, our minister at 
Madrid. The congress of Aix la Chapelle expressed no 
opinion on the subject, and Don Onis, the minister of 
FerdinaHd at this place, has never for a moment ceased 
to fulfil his functions, without tlie smallest interuiption ; 
an ' so little was the respect which he paid to tlie letter 
Qf Pizarro, suspending further communications with the 
American government, that he did not think it worthy 
©f being officially made known to the Secretary of State. 
He places the vindication of his master on ground to- 
tally different from that assumed in this house by those 
who defend his cause, in attempting to censure tbe con- 
duct of Gen. Jackson. He says, in a letter to Mr. Adams, 
of the 8th of July, 1818, "It cannot be supposed that the 
'"Indians, against whom the American commander di- 
rected his operations, received protection in Florida. 
They never received either favor or protection from the 
Spanish authorities, either xuithin or -without the tei^itory 
^' imder their jurisdiction." 

Speaking of the Governor of Pensacola, he alleges, that 
he took every necessary precaution to prevent the In- 
' dians being supplied with arms and ammunition within 
' his Majesty's territory. These facts being of public noto- 
riety, a7id impossible to refute, there can be no excuse, 
pretext, or subterfuge, offered for a series of such un- 
5? iieard of nntrap-es." And, sir, this is the true and only 
proceedings of General Jackson. It is a question of fWct ; 
and if Don Onis speaks the truth, in saying that the In- 
dians received neither favor or protection from Luengo 
^li^^Masot, and that every thing was done in their power 
to prevent their being supplied with arms or ammunition, 
and that it is impossible to refute these facts — then I say 
with him, that the American commander was cwisurable, 
and ought to be brought before a General Court Martial 
But, unfortunately for the Don, the evidence is aU on the 
other side ; and these flicts, which he says "it is impos^l- 



48 



ble to refute,^ are contradicted even by the oificei*s 
thenjseh^es, whom he thus boldly defends. I contend, 
therefore, on the authority of the* Spanish minister him- 
self, that, the proof being- ag'ainst him, the conclusion 
fails, and General Jackson stands acquitted by Spain of 
all blame or censure for his occupation of St. Marks and 
Pensacola. The Chevalier Onis will not stoop so low, as 
to put the issue of the controversy on the wirp-xlr&vrn 
theories, and ingenious sophistry, with v.-Kiciine has been 
so ^g-enerousli/ supplied by honorable gentlemen who have 
participated in this deba;te. He takes the high and im- 
posing attitude of factsy from vvhich he deduces the in- 
jiocence of the colonial authorities in Florida, and the 
consequent guilt of the American comm.ander ; and sure- 
ly he ought to be allowed to shape the defence of his 
own immaculate master. On that g-round I am content to 
submit the case to the decision of an impartial world. Sir, 
i! the United States have been precipitated into hostilities 
with Spain, by General Jackson, and the constitutional 
powers of Congress, in that respect, have been usurped. 



its effects to be seen or felt ? Spain has given no evi- 
dence of a belief on her part that she is at war with us, 
or that she contemplates becoming so. We have disa- 
vowed all hostile intentions towards her. She has a Mi- 
nister resident at Washington, who is treated with every 
respect due to his rank, and who is now employed in tli^ 
interesting' duty of forming a treaty on the subjects which 
have so long remained unsettled between his sovereign 
and this country. We also have a Minister of equal rank 
and dignity at Madrid, who receives there the most po- 
lite attention. No armies are in the field. ; no fleets on 
the ocean; no appropriations required to carry on the 
war—but it is nevertheless the foundation upon which 
the whole arg-uraent of the advocates of these resolutions 
is built, and all the di»eams of our violated Constitution^ 
with wliich we liave been amused for the last three 

fionorable'geiM'enten imagme to^exist, lb"r the'sa^e ofthe 
argument, but which neither of the feigned belhgerents 
acknowledge, and which is carried on without men, mo- 
nev, or ships, while both nations are under the singular 
delusion that they are in a state of profound peace ! I 
have heard, sir, of vrars in tb.e moon, and I presume this 
must be one of that description. 

Mr. Chairman, I think it must be manifest to every 
candid mind, disposed to look at these events with an 
impartial eye, that no act of war has been committed a- 
gainst Spain : that none was ever intended: that our re- 




been recognized, and where are 



49 



iiitiorts of amity with tliat nation have undergone no chang^e : 
and that General Jackson has been most unjustly charged 
with a violation of the Constitution of his country. The 
total neglect of Spain for the last ten years to maintain 
" her authority in Florida, and the facilities which it affords 
to our enemies, has compelled the government of the 
United States to consider that territory open to our arms 
'"whenever the public safety required that they should be 
sent ihei c , -»^rl the Spanish government has no just right 
to complain of treatment which her own negligence and 
imbecility has impos^rd-on as a viiity, if. seif-(k;tence. 

Permit me, sir, to call the attention of the committee 
to a measure which was adopted during the administration 
of President Madison, relating to that part of Florida 
which lies west of the Perdido, and which we claimed 
under the cession of Louisiana. Spain was in possession 
of the country, and contested our claim ; a special mis- 
sion had been sent to Madrid to negociate a treaty of lim- 
its with that government, and the effort to effect that ob- 
ject was unsuccessful. Pending this question of title be- 
tween the two governments, in the year 1810, Mr. Madi= 
son issued a Proclamation annexing the disputed terntor 
ry to the present state of Louisiana, then the territory of 
Orleans. That proclamation is in the fQllow ing words : 

"Now be it known, that I, James Madison, President 
of trie United States of America, in pursuance of these 
weighty and urgent considerations, have deem-ed it right 
and requisite, that possession should be taken of the sai^i 
territory, in the nam.e and behalf of the said United States, 
William C. C, Claiborne, Governor of the Orleans terri=- 
tory, of which the said territory is to be taken as part, will 
accordingly proceed to execute the same, and to exer- 
cise over the said territories the authorities and functions 
legally appertaining to his office ; and the good people 
inhabiting the same are invited and lenjoined to pay due 
respect to him in that character: to be obedient to the 
laws, to maintain order, to cherish harmony, and in eve- 
ry manner to conduct themselves as peaceable citizens. 

1 o carry the power vested in him into effect, Gover- 
nor Claiborne was authorise 1 to call in to his aid the re- 
rular troops of the United States on the Mississippi a^d 

htia of the Orleans and Mississippi territories, and totakL 
■mlt^rtflZr^ the territol-A if resistance Should be 
?f^w "^""^ executed. The laws of the U 

States were extended to the country, by virtue of tW^ 
proclamation, and at that time, andlbr 'more Iha„ one 



50 

6'" 

year afterwards, a Spanish g-arrison remained at Mobile. 
This step was taken but a few weeks before the meeting 
of Congress, and communicated to both houses at the 
opening" of the session.An interesting and animated debate 
arose in the Senate on that part of the President's message. 
Parties w^ere then marshalled; the opposition to administra- 
tion was systematic and uniform ; and its friends were e- 
qually so. The proceeding was denounct-d, as an uniju 
thorized act of war on Spain ; as a usurp^^^'^n* Dy the 
executive, of the power vested alone in Congress, to de- 
clare war. iTie con^iimauii weta said to be vioiatea ; 
the country menaced with all the horrors of war, both by 
England and Spain. T he arguments used on that occa- 
sion, by the old federal party, bear a strong resemblance 
to those which we have heard on the present occasion, 
from the friends of these resolutions. 1 listened, sir, with 
ffreat pleasure, to a very able and eloquent speech de- 
livered by the honorable Speaker, then a member of the 
Senate, in the defence of this executive measure. He re- 
ceived my thanks, and, I have no doubt, the thanks of 
the nation, for the unanswerable and lucid views which 
he took of that subject. I hope the honorable gentle- 
man will pardon me for the liberty which I take in reading 
a few sentences from that speech, to the committee. 
Their application to the recent occurrences m Florida, 
will be readily perceived, conveyed in language much su- 
perior to any which falls within the compass of my hum- 
ble capacity. « I have (said he^ no hesitation m saying, 
« that, if a parent country either cannot, or will not, 
" maintain her authority over a colony adjacent to us ; 
« and if misrule and disorder prevails there dangerous to 
" the Union ; or menacing the peace of our frontier ; or 
"unfavorable to tixe execution of our laws ; we have a 

right, on the eternal principles c^f ^^//ff ^7«f ^J' 
-lay holdofit. This prmciple, '/^f^f^tf ^'.^^ 
« tUle, -would justify the occupation Florida.^ .^^S 
eternal principle of self-preservation alone would justify 



51 



Tustifiable on the reasonable probability of approaching^ 
hostilities, Can he condemn Gen. Jackson for a similar 
precaution, surrounded as he was by a combination ot 
Indians and negroes, prepared to renew^ their deeds of 
cruelty and blood whenever the army under his command 
should retire within the limits of the United States f 

Let me not be told, that we had a fair title to the coun« 
■--y under the purchase of Louisiana ; for, so far as it re- 
lated to Uic «£.tlonal feehngs of Spain, and to the com- 
promitment of our own peace, it was sufficient tha,t Spam 

was in the actual pos^csDl^^ii cn^. ^v^llj .^tia v^lalmcd cs= 

paramount right to the sovereignty over it. We forcibly 
wrested it out of her possession, and extended our laws, 
both general and local, to its inhabitants, by proclamationy 
and I am at a loss to distinguish that act from the military 
occupation of another district in Florida, on the same great 
principle of self-preservation. I accord my approl^ation to 
both measures, alike in their character and in their 
effects, and leave the honorable Speaker to shew, if he 
can, in what consist the shades of difference which will 
authorise us to justify the one and^censure the other., On 
various other occasions we have marched troops into Flori- 
da, and fought battles there, without exciting the smallest 
sensation in this House, on the score of a usurpation of its 
pov/ers by the Executive, In 1812, Col. Smith, at the 
head of a rifle regiment, was posted before St. Augustine ; 
a detachment from his command was attacked and de- 
feated by the Indians and negroes from the Spanish fort ; 
he declared his intention of storming the place, but his 
troops were enfeebled by disease, and he retreated to the 
state of Georgia. A regiment of volunteers, commanded 
by Col. Williams, of Tennessee, likewise carried their 
military operations into that country, llie Georgia mili- 
tia have frequently been ordered there, in pursuit of 
hostile Indians. In 1814. General Jackson fought a bat- 
tle in Pensacola, and dislodged the British force in th© 
Barrancas, who blew up the fortress on retiring into 
their vessels. Since that period, the negro fort, so often 
^i^xw^.a. ..^xi, uic j^pprtitiv^iii^^oT , V. «iUacKe(l and de- 
stroyed by a combined land and naval force. All these 
events have passed in review before us, and never until 
now were they considered either war on Spain, or a vio- 
lation of the Constitution. But, sir, every thing hereto- 
fore held sacred, both in principle and practice, must 
bend to this unprecedented scheme of passing censure 
on Gen. Jackson, who has been modestly compared to 
Alvear, Cortes, Pizarro, and Hyder Alii, by an honorable 
gentleman from New York, (Mr. Storrs,) and at the same 
time tlie gentleman assured us of the very high respect 



52 



in which he Ueid the character and services of that dis- 
tinguished hero ! Sir, there are some men too hig^h in 
the estimation of their fellow-citizens, to be permitted qui« 
etly to enjoy the distinction conferred on them by a 
grateful country. Had General Jackson been less useful 
to the nation, he might have escaped the mortification of 
the denunciations uttered ag-ainst him an this floor. 

Mr. Poindexter continued. Sir, said he, 1 have K<>^«»- 
mortified and disgwsted at the sickly ag-onics and sympa^ 
thetic effusions, which have been so often repeated by 
lionoraDie members, un uic stiuJccl of uie trial and ex- 
ecution of the instig-ators of the Seminole v/ar, Ai^buthnot 
and Ambrister. Inflated appeals to our humanity and 
magnanimity have rung through this hall, to eXcite our 
Gommiseratian for these guilty men : they have failed to 
reach either my judgment or the feelings of my heart; 
my sympathies, thank God, are reserved for the bleeding' 
and sufiering citizens of 7nif own c9U7itrn and, objects of 
that description in abundance are exhibited to our view, 
m the narrative of events connected with the short, but 
bloody career of these foreign incendiaries in Florida. 
The punishment inflicted on them was more tlian merit- 
ed by the enormity of their crimes; the example, 1 trust, 
w^ill be a salutary warning" to British agents on the whole 
extent of our Indian frontier ; and if future outrages of 
the same kind should be practised, we owe it to the safe- 
ty and honor of our countiy, to retaliate on the oflenders 
with the utmost rigor and,' severity, until the subjects of 
foreign nations shall be taught to dread our vengeance, 
If they do not respect our rights. Sir, it is not my inten- 
tion to enter into a detailed argument on the various 
technical objections whiclihave been resorted to by gen- 
tlemen skilled in the nicety of special pleading, to shew 
that a count or an imiendo is wanting in the declaration^ 
or that judgment has not been pronounced according to 
the forms in such case made and provided. Such trash 
may serve to supply the vacuum of empty declamation ; 
bu_n I can never consent to convert this great pohtical 
theatre mto a court or en-x^ia ctuvt *iipcra.ic, — 
the record, and regulate the proceedings of mterior tri- 
bunals My views are directed to measures in reference 
to their operation on the general welfare of my country, 
-^nd whenever that eflect is produced, I would not re- 
trace the step, unless the honor of the nation imperious- 
jv demanded the sacrifice. The proceedings of the spe- 
cial court, convened by General Jackson on this occasion, 
have been fully and ably defended by honorable gentle^ 
men, whose profound knowledge of military science and 
Te practical usages of war gives to their opinions oikI 



5a 

a^'-g'iiments the weig-ht of authority, and supersedes the 
necessity of further investigation. If indeed errors in 
p uhit of form were committed by the court, or if they mis- 
u.id.irstood the powers vested in them by the order of 
the couiaianding" g'cneral, it does not become the dignity 
of this hoiase to asci-ibe these irregularities to General 
,Tackson : it is to the general order we ihust look for ade- 
^^'-itjon of the duties which the Ceurt were required to 
perform ; lu^ y- v.- ere instructed to " record the documents 
" and testimony in the several cases, and their aUnimr as 
" to the guiit or mnocence ot trie prisoners, and what 
« punishment, if any, shouldbe inflicted." Call it, there- 
fore, a court martial, or by whatever other name you 
please^ these were the powers conveyed to it, and no as> 
sumed title could enlarge the grant or substantially change 
its character. The opinion of the court was given in the 
form of a sentence, and carried into execution, but the 
sam-^ result would have followed, if there h?.d been no de=- 
parture from, the literal import of the order. To cavil 
at such petty inaccuracies, where substantial justice has 
been done, is, I repeat it, unbecoming the dignity of the 
House of Representatives. That these perfidious mis- 
creants met the fate which their conduct mxcrited, can- 
not be seriously doubted by any one. On the principle 
of reprisals, it was lawful to execute them ; and, as crim- 
inals of the hig^^st grade, whose guilty hands invoh ed 
a v/hole country in scenes of massacre and robbery, they 
fell just victims to the offended laws of nature and of na» 
tions. " Those, who, without authority from their sove^ 
reign, exercise violence against 2iX\enemy and fall into that 
enemy's hands, have no right to expect the treatment due 
to prisoners of war : the enemy is justifiable in putting 
them to death as banditti." Again, " the violences corn- 
mittedby the subjects of one nation against those of anoth- 
er, without authority, are looked upon as robberies, and 
the perpetrators are excludedfrom the rights of lawful ene- 
mies;" and, also, " whosoever offends the state, injures 
its rights, disiurbs Us trancjuiliUj or does it a Dreinfllcc^ in, 
-^-xi.xci Wiiatever, declares iimiself its enemiy, anci ex» 
poses inmself to be justly punished for it." Vatte), 162 
Sir, can any gentleman compare these principles of ^a' 
tio al law, with the evidence in the trials of Arbuthnot 
and Amonster, and seriously contend that they liave suf 
fered unjustly and coiUrary to law ? That they have been 
doomed to perish under the rod of military despotism' ? 
Itrankiy confess, it wouxl require a stubborn determina 
tion to persevere in error, wincli I do not possess to 
flraw coiiclusions so inconsistent with such premises 
Some gentieiiuni have attempted to make a distinction 



34} 

between the guilt of these men. Ambrlster (say they^ 
was taken in arms ; he commanded the negroes and In- 
dians, led them into battle, was identiiied with them, and 
therefore deserved death. Arbuthnot, we are told, was a 
mere merchant, a dealer in the articles which the Indians 
v/ere accustomed to purchase. 

I have, in the prscedin^ part of my remarks, had oc- 
casion to advert to the objects for which this man ent^s* 
ed Florida, and the part v^^hich he took in c-tcii^iig the 
Indians to war. If Nichols was an innocent dealer in 
" the articles wnicn xne moiHris were accustomed to pur- 
chase," so was Arbuthnot : their views were the same ; 
they held the same language to the savages, and each 
gave a pledge of British aid, in case war should be wa- 
ged for the recovery of the lands ceded by the treaty of 
Fort Jackson. He frequently assured the chiefs that he 
had authority to correspond v/ith His Majesty's minister 
at VVa.shington— with Governor Cameron, of New Provi- 
dence, and the Governor General of Havana, on the sub- 
ject of the necessary supplies for carrying on the war ; 
and that he was in possession of a letter from Earl Ba- 
thurst, which informed him that Mr. Bagot was instructed 
on that subject. On the back of a letter addressed by 
him to that minister, he states the aggregate force embo- 
died among the Indians, and the positions at w4iich they 
were posted ; and requests a supply of||^-ms and ammu- 
nition specified in the following memora.«dum : 

^' A quantity of gunpowder, lead, muskets, and fiints, suffi-^ 
cient to arm lbt)0 to 2000 men. 

Muskets, 1000: more smaller pieces, if possible." 
10,000 flint* ; a preportion for rifle, j)ut upsepai-ate, 
50 casks gunpowd.-r ; a proportion tor rifle. 
2,00i^ k-iives, 6 to 9 inch blade, good quality. 
1,000 tomahawks^lOO lbs. Vermillion. 
2^000 lbs. lead, independent of ball for musket." 

This paper speaks for itself ; it cannot be misunder- 
stood ; and shews, most clearly, the participation of Ar- 
bxitbnof in Drovidinar the means necessary to the prosecu^* 
tion of the Seminole war. He was the prune iinVrryttrr oi 
the hostile Indians ; had a full power of attorney to make 
talks, and act for 'them in all cases whatsoever ; and if 
Ambrister, who was but a subordinate agent, was justly 
sentenced to suffer death, what excuse can be offered 
for the man who put the whole machinery of war, mas- 
sacre, and robbery, in motion ? Can it be said that he 
had not d.sturbed the tranquility of the Unitod States, or 
done us a prejudice in any manner whatever r I presume 
it cannot, and of course, according to tlie maxims of pub- 
Iclaw, to which I have referred, he had declared him« 



55 



self our enemy, and exposed himself to be justly punish - 
ed." It is unnecessary for me to enlarge the discussion 
on the rig-lit of the commanding^ g-eneral to retahate on 
the enemy for the acts of cruelty and barbarity which 
were practised in the progTess of this war. Honorable 
g-entlemen, who controyert the right, have shewn no in- 
stance in which it was denied, either in Europe or Amer- 
l nnd, in support of it, we have the examples of Wash- 
ington, and aiarxj other general officers, who fouHit in 
the war otthe revolution. .Jv. fi^..L.i i-.^^ 

the right to inflict punisiiraent on these outlaws. I re- 
joice that he exercised that right ; and, if we do not "a- 
ahze and destroy the good effects of the act, it will con- 
tribute, in no small degree, to the future peace and se- 
curity of our frontier. But the honorable Speaker has 
said that we have no right to practice retaliation on the 
Indians ; that we have forborne t^ do so, from the earli- 
est settlement of the country, and that it has become the 
common law of the land, which we are bound not to vio- 
late. Sir, from what source does the gentleman derive 
the principle that a right, inherent in the nature of man, 
which he inhales with his first breath— which " grows 
with hts growth and strengthens with his strength''— 
which has the fiat of God for its sanction, and is incor- 
porated in the code of^ all the nations of the earth be* 
comes extinct with regard to those who may forbear to 
exercise it, from motives of policy or humanity, for anv 
number of years ? That a common law is thereby entail- 
ed on the American people, to the latest generations, by 
which they are required to bend beneath the tomahawk 
and scalping knife of the savage, and submit to every 
cruelty and enormity, without the privilege of retaliating' 
on the enemy the wrongs and injuries we have suffered 
by his wanton transgression of the rules of civilized war! 
fare ? We l^ave, it is true, tolerated much of the iXi 
man conduct of the aborigines towards our frontier inha" 
bitants We have endeavored to teach them, by ex^^m'. 
Dies of humaniiv -v-l -.o«.»o,.i,^:.,, - ^/.uTa Sr 

v^aniages ot civilization ; butmstances are not wantin/^- 
the most severe retaliation on these monsters, fov lLZ 
deeds of barbarity. If, however, there was not a sol tary 
case on record, of the exercise of the right, it remah s 17 
violate and mviolable. No community has theTow^ 
rehnquishit,andbind posterity in the chains 6^r shv;^ 
non-resistance. The gentlema'n's common C w 
do for the freemen of the United States • it is 7nn-n . i 
absui^ Sir, if the committee will pardon ^^J:^ 
sion, this nove idea of common law reminds me ofVn oc 
currence which is said to have happened in the early pe. 



56 



rrod of the settlement of the present polite and HGunsli- 
ing state of Kentucky. A man, in personal coinbat, de- 
prived his antagonist of the sight of an eye, by a practice 
familiar at that dav, called gouging. The offender was 
prosecuted and indicted for the outrage; he employed 
counsel to defend him. to whom he confessed the fact. 
Vv'eli, sir,said the lawyer, what shall I say in yourdefence ? 
Y,'i-iv, sir. said he, tell them it is the custom of the cov^f-^^a 
And I presume, if the Honorable Speaker had W^^^l"^^"^ 
uxx x,.a.,l.-l Mve ^P.id. " Gentlemen oi tae Ju- 

* rv it is the common law of Kentucky, and }-ou will tind 
< a verdict for the defendant." But, sir, to be serious, 
let me bring the case home to the honorable Speaker 
Mmself. Suppose a band of these barbarians, stimulated 
ciT-id excited by some British incendiary, should, at tiie 
hour of midnight, when all nature is wrapt in darkness ar.d 
re'oose, sound the infernal yell, and enter the dwe ling 
of that honorable gentleman, and in his presence pierce 
^^o the lieart the wife of his bosom, and the beloved and 
t-^^der infant m her arms— objects so dear to a husband 
and a father— would he calmly fold his arms, and say, 
ell- 'ds hard! but it is the common law of the country, 
and I must submit I No, sir ; his manly spirit would 
burn with indignant rage, aiid never slumber till U\e 
'^and of retributive justice had avenged his wrongs. 
*^ Mercy to him who shews it, is the rule, 
«' And righteous limitaiion of the act, - 
By which Fleaven moves in pardoning guilty man \ 
And he that sho\\ s none, being ripe in years, 
And conscious of the outrage he commits, 
<^ Shall seek it, and not fmd it, in his turn." 

1 have ho com.passion for such monsters as Arbuthnot 
and Ambrister; their ov.n countr\- is ashamed to complain 
ef their fate; the British minister here has disavowed 
their conduct, and abandoned their cause ; and we, sir, 
are the residuary legatees of all the grief and sorrow telt 
n^n the face of the g:lwbe, for these two fallen muraer-r. 
and roiJur^^« ' =^ — - — ^ ^ - 

murder. , , . o 

Mr. Chairm.an, I am not tne eulogi^^oi any Ui.u , ^ 
sliail not attempt the panegyric i)f General Jackson ; bu 
if u grateful country miglit be allowed to speak ot n^s 

^^L^ana would sav, "You have defended our capital 
airain«^t tlie veteran -troops of the enemy, by uhom it 
would bax e been sii ked, and our dwelhiigs enveloped m 
^.-r-.es over the he uLs of our beloved famihes." 
" G'-£?Tift " ^'cu have p:ive:) peace to our defenceless 



57 

frontier, and chastised our ferocious savage foe, and the 
perfidious incendiaries and felons by whom they were ex- 
cited and counselled to the perpetration of their cruei 
deeds. You have opened additional territory to our rich 
and growing- p ^pulation, which they may now enjoy in 
peate and tranquility/' 

^^Alabama and Mississippi: « You have protected us in 
iin^iri'Si^^f infancy, and in the moment of great na- 

ril^^P^ .^!o?/%^""''^^^i^^^^^^b^e l^ed Sticks and their 
allies ; you nave compelled them to r..\\r.n^.'..\. .k. 
session of our lanas, and ere long we shall strengthen in- 
to lull manhood, under the smiles of a beneficent Provi- 
dence 

The -whole Western Country : ^Yo\x have preserved the 
great emporium of our vast commerce from the grasp of 
a powerful enemy; you have maintained, for our use the 
free navigation of the Mississippi, at the hazard of vour 
hfe, health, and fortune/' * ^ 

The J\ation at large: "You have given glory and re- 
nown to the arms of your country throughout the civili- 
zed world ; and have taught the tyrants of the earth the 
salutary lesson, tliat, in the defence of their soil and inde- 
pendence, freemen 2ire invincible:' 

History will transmit these truths to generations yet 
unborn, and, should the propositions on your table be 
adopted, we the Representatives of the people subjoin: 
Jtt'- T ""^^^^ """'^ valorous captain, you have achieved 
all this for your country ; we bo w down under the weight 

Velrl T^""'"' '^^f^'' y«^^' ^"^^ SQ^e small 

testimonial of your claim to the confidence and conside- 

tou th ^i^^^^"^' ^^^''^ n^^e, present 

you the following- resolutions : 

hav^vTnW That you. Major General Andrew Jackson, 
have violated the Constitution which you have sworn to 
support, and disobeyed the orders of your superioi the 
commander m chief of the army a^d nLy of tKnkel 

^ liesolved,^ That you. Major General Andrew J.ar.lr.«r^ - 
prindples of hum.m;.,^n^^;i;er:br^^^^^ 
tional character, in the trial and execution of Alexande; 
Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister, for tlie trflL^ anl 
unimportant crime of exciting the sLvages to murdfr the 
defenceless citizens of the United States 

" Accept, we pray you, sir, of tliese re'solves ; i^o down 
o your grave m sorrow, and congratulate yourself that 
you have not served this great republic in vain," 

Greece had her Miltiades, Rome her Belhsanus Car 
thage he. Hannibal, and <^ may we, Mr. (^i!^;^'p^ ' 




38 

by the exnmple!-' Sir, if honorable g^entlemen are so ex» 
tremely solicitous to record their opinions of this distin- 
s^uisheci general, let us erect a tablet in the centre of our 
Capitol Sauare \ kt his bust dtslfnatt the purpose t thu 
ther Itt taeb mm\ repair, and enf m e tht fethn|s of Ms 
heart. And, mr, whatever «5ay be the opinlonsof otbeH 
for one, I should not hesitate, to lav^ in the language of 
the sage of Moiiticello, honor and gmUtttdk to /ufn 



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